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The  Woman's  Bible 


FIRST   EDITION-TEN   THOUSAND 


PART  II 


JUDGES,  KINGS,  PROPHETS 

AND 

APOSTLES. 


'Who  ever  knew  Truth  put  to  the  worse,  in  a  free  and  open   encounter?" 

—Milton. 


NEW  YORK: 

EUROPEAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

68  Broad  Street. 


PRICE   50  CENTS 


The  Woman's  Bible 


PART  II 


Comments  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 

FROM 

Joshua  to  Revelation 


'OhI  rather  give  me  commentators  plain. 
Who  with  no  deep  researches  vex  the  brain; 
Who  from  the  dark  and  doubtful  love  to  run. 
And  hold  their  glimmering  tapers  to  the  sun." 

—The  Parish  Register, 


NEW  YORK: 

EUROPEAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

68  Broad  Street. 

1898. 


V.  1 


COPYRIGHT,   1898. 
BY 
EUROPEAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANV. 


Revising  Committee. 


'We  took  sweet  counsel  together." — Ps.  Iv.,  14. 


Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Rev.  Phebe  A.  Hanaford, 
Clara  Bewick  Colby, 
Rev.  Augusta  Chapin, 
Ursula  N.  Gestefeld, 
Mary  Seymour  Howell, 
Josephine  K.  Henry, 
Mrs.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll, 
Sarah  A.  Underwood, 
Ellen  Battelle  Dietrick,* 


Lillie  Devereux  Blake, 
Matilda  Joslyn  Gage, 
Rev.  Olympia  Brown, 
Frances  Ellen  Burr, 
Clara  B.  Neyman, 
Helen  H.  Gardener, 
Charlotte  Beebe  Wilbour, 
Lucinda  B.  Chandler, 
Catharine  F.  Stebbins, 
Louisa  Southworth. 


Foreign  Members. 


Baroness  Alexandra  Gripenberg,  Finland, 

Ursula  M.  Bright,  England, 

Irma  von  Troll-Borostyani,  Austria, 

Priscilla  Bright  McLaren,  Scotland, 

Isabelle  Bogelot,  France. 


*Deceased. 


COMMENTS  ON  THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS 

FROM 

JOSHUA  TO  REVELATION,  BY 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Ellen  Battelle  Dietrick,  Matilda  Joslyn  Gage, 

Louisa  Southvvorth,  Frances  Ellen  Burr, 

Lucinda  B.  Chandler,  Rev.  Phebe  A.  Hanaford, 

'Anonymous,  Clara  B.  Neyman. 


APPENDIX. 
LETTERS  AND  COMMENTS  BY 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Josephine  K.  Henry,  Frances  E.  Willard,  Eva  A.  Ingersoll,  Mary 
A.  Livermore,  Irma  von  Troll-Borostyani,  Mrs.  Jacob  Bright,  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown 
Blackwell,  Anonymous,  Rev.  Phebe  A.  Hanaford,  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  Sarah  A.  Underwood, 
Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  Ursula  N.  Gestefeld,  E.  M.,  Matilda 
Joslya  Gage,  Sarah  M.  Perkins,  and  Catharine  F.  Stebbins. 


RESOLUTION 

OP 

National-American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  repudiating  "The 
Woman's  Bible,"  and  Speech  of 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 


DEDICATED 
TO  THE  MEMORY  OP 

ELLEN  BATTELLE  DIETRICK, 

IN  WHOSE  DEATH  WE  LOST  THE  ABLEST  MEMBER  OF  OUR 
REVISING   COMMITTEE. 


PREFACE  TO  PART  11. 


THE  criticisms  on  "The  Woman's  Bible"  are  as  varied  as  they  are 
unreasonable.  Both  friend  and  foe  object  to  the  title.  When 
John  Stuart  Mill  wrote  his  "Subjection  of  Woman"  there  was  a 
great  outcry  against  that  title.  He  said  that  proved  it  to  be  a  good 
one.  The  critics  said:  "It  will  suggest  to  women  that  they  are  in 
subjection  and  make  them  rebellious."  "That/'  said  he,  "is  just  the 
effect  I  wish  to  produce."  Rider  Haggard's  "She"  was  denounced 
so  universally  that  every  one  read  it  to  see  who  "She"  was.  Thus  the 
title  in  both  cases  called  attention  to  the  book. 

The  critics  say  that  our  title  should  have  been  "Commentaries  on 
the  Bible."  That  would  have  been  misleading,  as  the  book  simply 
contains  short  comments  on  the  passages  referring  to  woman.  Some 
say  that  it  should  have  been  "The  Women  of  the  Bible;"  but  several 
books  with  that  title  have  already  been  published.  The  Rev.  T. 
DeWitt  Talmage  says:  "You  might  as  well  have  a  'Shoemakers' 
Bible' ;  the  Scriptures  apply  to  women  as  well  as  to  men."  As  the 
Bible  treats  women  as  of  a  different  class,  inferior  to  man  or  in  sub- 
jection to  him,  which  is  not  the  case  with  shoemakers,  Mr.  Talmage's 
criticism  has  no  significance. 

"There's  nothing  so  becomes  a  man 
As  modest  stillness  and  humility." 

~  Another  clergyman  says :  "It  is  the  work  of  women,  and  the 
devil."  This  is  a  grave  mistake.  His  Satanic  Majesty  was  not  in- 
vited to  join  the  Revising  Committee,  which  consists  of  women  alone. 
Moreover,  he  has  been  so  busy  of  late  years  attending  Synods,  Gen- 
eral Assemblies  and  Conferences,  to  prevent  the   recognition  of 


8  PREFACE. 

women  delegates,  that  he  has  had  no  time  to  study  the  languages  and 
"higher  criticism,"  ■** 

Other  critics  say  that  our  comments  do  not  display  a  profound 
knowledge  of  Biblical  history  or  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages. 
As  the  position  of  woman  in  all  religions  is  the  same,  it  does  not  need 
a  knowledge  of  either  Greek,  Hebrew  or  the  works  of  scholars  to 
show  that  the  Bible  degrades  the  Mothers  of  the  Race.  Further- 
more, "The  Woman's  Bible"  is  intended  for  readers  who  do  not  care 
for,  and  would  not  be  convinced  by,  a  learned,  technical  work  of  so- 
called  "higher  criticism," 

The  Old  Testament  makes  woman  a  mere  after-thought  in  crea- 
tion; the  author  of  evil;  cursed  in  her  maternity;  a  subject  in  mar- 
riage; and  all  female  life,  animal  and  human,  unclean.  The  Church 
in  all  ages  has  taught  these  doctrines  and  acted  on  them,  claiming 
divine  authority  therefor.  "As  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  so 
is  man  the  head  of  woman."  This  idea  of  woman's  subordination  is 
reiterated  times  without  number,  from  Genesis  to  Revelations;  and 
this  is  the  basis  of  all  church  action. 

Parts  1.  and  H.  of  "The  Woman's  Bible"  state  these  dogmas  in 
plain  English,  as  agreeing  fully  with  Bible  teaching  and  church  ac- 
tion. And  yet  women  meet  in  convention  and  denounce  "The 
Woman's  Bible,"  while  clinging  to  the  Church  and  their  Scriptures. 
The  only  difference  between  us  is,  we  say  that  these  degrading 
ideas  of  woman  emanated  from  the  brain  of  man,  while  the  Church 
says  that  they  came  from  God. 

Now,  to  my  mind,  the  Revising  Committee  of  "The  Woman's 
Bible,"  in  denying  divine  inspiration  for  such  demoralizing  ideas, 
shows  a  more  worshipful  reverence  for  the  great  Spirit  of  All  Good 
than  does  the  Church.  We  have  made  a  fetich  of  the  Bible  long 
enough.  The  time  has  come  to  read  it  as  we  do  all  other  books,  ac- 
cepting the  good  and  rejecting  the  evil  it  teaches. 

"There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt. 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  creeds." 

Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  formerly  President  of  Cornell  Univers- 


PREFACE.  9 

ity,  shows  us  in  his  great  work,  "A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science 
with  Theology,"  that  the  Bible,  with  its  fables,  allegories  and  end- 
less contradictions,  has  been  the  great  block  in  the  way  of  civiliza- 
tion. All  through  the  centuries  scholars  and  scientists  have  been 
imprisoned,  tortured  and  burned  alive  for  some  discovery  which 
seemed  to  conflict  with  a  petty  text  of  Scripture.  Surely  the  im- 
mutable laws  of  the  universe  can  teach  more  impressive  and  exalted 
lessons  than  the  holy  books  of  all  the  religions  on  earth. 

January,  1898.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOSHUA. 


Joshua  u. 

1  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  sent  out  of 
Shittim  two  men  to  spy  secretly,  saying,  Go 
view  the  land,  even  Jericho.  And  they 
went,  and  came  into  a  harlot's  house, 
named  Rahab,  and  lodged  there. 

2  And  it  was  told  the  king  of  Jericho, 
saying,  Behold,  there  came  men  in  hither 
to-night  of  the  children  of  Israel  to  search 
out  the  country. 

3  And  the  king  of  Jericho  sent  unto  Ra- 
hab, saying.  Bring  forth  the  men  that  are 
come  to  thee  which  are  entered  into  thine 


house:  for  they  be  come  to  search  out  all 
the  country. 

4  And  the  woman  took  the  two  men, 
and  hid  them  and  said  thus,  There  came 
men  unto  me,  but  I  wist  not  whence  they 
were. 

5  And  it  came  to  pass  about  the  time  of 
shutting  of  the  gate  when  it  was  dark,  that 
the  men  went  out;  whither  the  men  went  I 
wot  not;  pursue  after  them  quickly;  for  ye 
shall  overtake  them. 


THIS  book  gives  an  account  of  the  final  entrance  of  the  children 
of  Israel  into  the  Promised  Land.  Joshua  was  the  successor 
of  Moses,  and  performed  the  same  miracle  in  parting  the  waters 
of  the  Jordan  that  Moses  did  to  enable  his  people  to  pass  through  the 
Red  Sea.  He  was  seven  years  fighting  his  way  into  the  land  of 
Canaan,  where  he  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  peace. 

There  is  mention  of  two  women  only  in  this  book,  though  a  casual 
reference  is  again  made  to  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad,  as  described 
in  a  former  chapter. 

In  saving  the  spies  from  their  pursuers,  Rahab  made  them  prom- 
ise that  when  Jericho  fell  into  the  hands  of  Joshua,  they  would  save 
her  and  her  kinsmen.  From  the  text,  it  seems  that  Rahab  fully  un- 
derstood the  spirit  of  her  time,  and  with  keen  insight  and  religious 
fervor,  marked  characteristics  of  women,  she  readily  entered  into 
the  plans  of  the  great  general  of  Israel. 

Rahab  was  supposed  to  have  been  a  great  sinner,  her  life  in  many 
respects  questionable;  but  seeing  that  victory  was  with  the  Israelites, 
she  cast  her  lot  with  them.  From  the  text  and  what  we  know  of  hu- 
manity in  general,  it  is  difficult  to  decide  Rahab's  real  motive,  whether 

to  serve  the  Lord  by  helping  Joshua  to  take  the  land  of  Canaan,  or 

11 


12 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


to  save  her  own  life  and  that  of  her  kinsmen.     It  is  interesting  to  see 
that  in  all  national  emergencies,  leading  men  are  quite  willing  to  avail 

V      themselves  of  the  craft  and  cunning  of  women,  qualities  uniformly 
condemned  when  used  for  their  own  advantage. 

There  is  no  more  significance,  as  one  of  our  critics  says,  in  com- 
menting on  the  myths  of  the  Bible  than  on  yEsop's  fables.  The  dif- 
ference, however,  is  this:  that  in  the  latter  case  we  admit  that  they 
were  written  by  a  man ;  while  in  the  former,  they  are  claimed  to  have 
been  inspired  by  God.  Though  at  variance  with  all  natural  laws,  it 
is  claimed  that  our  eternal  salvation  depends  on  believing  in  the  plen- 
ary- inspiration  of  the  myths  of  the  Scriptures;  as  the  "higher  criti- 
cisms," written  by  learned  scholars  and  scientists,  are  not  familiar  to 
women,  our  comments  in  plain  English  may  rid  them  of  some  of  their 
superstitions. 

Though  the  injustice  to  woman  is  the  blackest  page  in  sacred  his- 
tory, the  distinguished  Biblical  writers  take  no  note  of  it  whatever. 
Even  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  though  he  devotes  several  pages  of 

^  his  work  to  the  statue  of  Lot's  wife  in  salt,  vouchsafes  no  criticism 
on  the  position  of  Lot's  wife  in  the  flesh,  nor  of  Lot's  outrageous 
treatment  of  his  daughters.  The  wonder  is  that  women  themselves 
should  either  believe  that  such  unholy  proceedings  were  inspired  by 
God,  or  make  a  fetich  of  the  very  book  which  is  responsible  for  their 
civil  and  social  degradation. 


Joshua  X. 

11  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  fled  from 
before  Israel,  and  were  in  the  going  down 
to  Beth-horon,  that  the  Lord  cast  down 
great  stones  from  heaven  upon  them  unto 
Azekah,  and  they  died:  they  were  more 
which  died  with  hailstones  than  they  whom 
the  children  of  Israel  slew  with  the  sword. 

12  Then  spake  Joshua  to  the  Lord  in  the 
day  when  the  Lord  delivered  up  the  Amor- 
ites  before  the  children  of  Israel,  and  he 
said  in  the  sight  of  Israel,  Sun,  stand  thou 
still  upon  Gibeon;  and  thou,  Moon,  in  the 
valley  of  Ajalon. 


13  And  the  Sun  stood  still,  and  the  Moon 
stayed,  until  the  people  had  avenged  them- 
selves upon  their  enemies.  Is  not  this  writ- 
ten in  the  book  of  Jasher?  So  the  Sun 
stood  still  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and 
hasted  not  to  go  down  about  a  whole  day. 

14  And  there  was  no  day  like  that  before 
it  or  after  it,  that  the  Lord  hearkened  unto 
the  voice  of  a  man:  tor  the  Lord  fought  for 
Israel. 


According  to  the  sacred  fabulist,  Joshua  surpassed  Moses  in 


COMMENTS   ON  JOSHUA. 


13 


the  wonders  which  he  performed.  In  taking  the  city  of  Jericho, 
as  recorded  in  Chapter  viii.,  he  did  not  use  the  ordinary  enginery 
of  war,  but  told  his  soldiers  to  blow  a  simultaneous  blast  upon 
their  trumpets,  while  all  the  people  with  united  shouts  should  pro- 
duce such  a  violent  concussion  of  the  air  as  to  bring  down  the 
walls  of  the  city.  He  not  only  subsidized  the  atmosphere  to  over- 
power his  enemies,  but  he  commanded  the  sun  and  the  moon  to  stand 
still  to  lengthen  the  day  and  to  lighten  the  night  until  this  victory  was 
complete. 

It  seems  that  the  Lord  was  so  well  pleased  with  Joshua's  refined 
military  tactics  that  he  suspended  the  laws  of  the  vast  solar  system  to 
vindicate  the  superior  prowess  of  one  small  tribe  on  the  small  planet 
called  the  earth.  The  Lord  also  resorted  to  more  material  and  forci- 
ble means,  sending  down  tremendous  hailstones  from  heaven,  and 
thus  with  one  fell  blow  destroyed  more  of  his  enemies  than  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  did  with  the  sword. 

There  are  no  events  recorded  in  secular  history  that  strain  the 
faith  of  the  reader  to  such  a  degree  as  the  feats  of  Joshua.  Moses, 
with  his  manna  and  pillar  of  light  in  the  wilderness  and  his  dazzling 
pyrotechnics  on  Mount  Sinai,  fades  into  insignificance  before  these 
marvellous  manifestations  by  Joshua,  with  the  Canaanites,  Jericho, 
and  the  sun  and  moon  under  his  feet.  Though  teaching  the  people 
that  all  these  fables  are  facts,  still  the  Church  condemns  prestidigi- 
tators, soothsayers,  fortune  tellers,  Spiritualists,  witches,  and  the  as- 
sumptions of  Christian  Scientists. 


Joshua  XV. 

i6  And  Caleb  said,  He  that  smiteth  Kir- 
jathesepher  and  taketh  it,  to  him  will  I  give 
Achsah  my  daughter  to  wife. 

17  And  Othniel,  tiie  son  of  Kenez,  the 
brother  of  Caleb,  took  it;  and  he  gave  him 
Achsah  his  daughter  to  wife. 

18  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  she  came  unto 
him,  that  she  moved  him  to  ask  of  her 


father  a  field:  and  she  lighted  oflE  her  ass; 
and  Caleb  said  unto  her.  What  wouldest 
thou? 

19  Who  answered,  Give  me  a  blessing; 
for  thou  hast  given  me  a  south  land;  give 
me  also  springs  of  water.  And  he  gave  her 
the  upper  springs,  and  the  nether  springs. 


In  giving  Achsah  her  inheritance  it  is  evident  that  the  Judges  of 


14  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

Israel  had  not  forgotten  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  in  the  case  of 
Zelophehad's  daughters.  He  said  to  Moses,  "When  a  father  dies 
leaving  no  sons,  the  inheritance  shall  go  to  the  daughters.  Let 
this  henceforth  be  an  ordinance  in  Israel."  Very  good  as  far  as  it 
goes;  but  in  case  there  were  sons,  justice  demanded  that  daughters 
should  have  an  equal  share  in  the  inheritance. 

As  the  Lord  has  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  women  of  this  Re- 
public to  demand  equal  rights  in  everything  and  everywhere,  and  as 
He  is  said  to  be  immutable  and  unchangeable,  it  is  fair  to  infer  that 
Moses  did  not  fully  comprehend  the  message,  and  in  proclaiming  it 
to  the  great  assembly  he  gave  his  own  interpretation,  just  as  our 
judges  do  in  this  year  of  the  Lord  1898. 

Achsah's  example  is  worthy  the  imitation  of  the  women  of  this 
Republic.  She  did  not  humbly  accept  what  was  given  her,  but 
bravely  asked  for  more.  We  should  give  to  our  rulers,  our  sires  and 
sons  no  rest  until  all  our  rights — social,  civil  and  political — are  fully 
accorded.  How  are  men  to  know  what  we  want  unless  we  tell  them? 
They  have  no  idea  that  our  wants,  material  and  spiritual,  are  the 
same  as  theirs;  that  we  love  justice,  liberty  and  equality  as  well  as 
they  do;  that  we  believe  in  the  principles  of  self-government,  in  in- 
dividual rights,  individual  conscience  and  judgment,  the  fundamental 
ideas  of  the  Protestant  religion  and  republican  government. 

E.  C.  S. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JUDGES. 


Chapter  I. 


Judges  i. 

19  And  the  Lord  was  with  Judah;  and  he 
drave  out  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountain: 
but  could  not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of 
the  valley,  because  they  had  chariots  of 
iron. 

Judges  a. 

6  And  when  Joshua  had  let  the  people  go, 
the  children  of  Israel  went  every  man  unto 
bis  inheritance  to  possess  the  land. 


7  And  the  people  served  the  Lord  all  the 
days  of  Joshua,  and  all  the  days  of  the  el- 
ders that  outlived  Joshua,  who  had  seen  all 
the  great  works  of  the  Lord,  that  he  did  for 
Israel. 

8  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant 
of  the  Lord,  died,  being  a  hundred  and  ten 
years  old. 


THIS  book,  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Samuel  the  Prophet, 
covers  a  period  of  300  years.  During  all  of  this  time  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  are  in  constant  friction  with  the  Lord  and  neigh- 
boring tribes,  never  loyal  to  either.  When  at  peace  with  the  Lord, 
they  are  fighting  with  their  neighbors;  when  at  peace  with  them, 
worshiping  their  gods  and  giving  them  their  daughters  in  mar- 
riage, then  the  Lord  is  angry,  and  vents  His  wrath  on  them.  Thus, 
they  are  continually  between  two  fires;  now  repenting  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes,  and  now,  with  the  help  of  the  Lord,  blessed  with  victories. 

Life  with  them  was  a  brief  period  of  success  and  defeat.  It  seems 
that  the  Lord,  according  to  their  ideas,  had  His  limitations,  and  could 
not  fight  tribes  who  had  iron  chariots. 

What  could  iron  chariots  be  in  the  way  of  that  Great  Force  which 
creates  cyclones,  hurricanes  and  earthquakes,  or  the  pyrotechnics  of 
a  thunderstorm.  How  little  these  people  knew  of  the  Great  Intelli- 
gence behind  the  laws  of  the  universe,  with  whom  they  pretended  to 
talk  in  the  Hebrew  language,  and  from  whom  they  claimed  to  have 
received  directions  as  to  their  treatment  of  women? 

In  the  opening  of  this  book  Joshua  still  governs  Israel.    After 


15 


i6  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

his  death,  the  Lord  raised  up  a  succession  of  Judges,  remarkable 
for  their  uprightness  and  wisdom;  but  they  found  it  impossible 
to  keep  the  chosen  people  in  the  straight  and  narrow  path.  The 
children  of  Israel  did  not  learn  wisdom  by  experience.  They  tired 
of  a  rigid  code  of  morals,  of  a  mystical  system  of  theology,  and 
of  the  women  of  their  own  tribe.  There  was  a  fascination  in  the 
manners  and  the  appearance  of  a  new  type  of  womanhood  which 
they  could  not  resist.  There  should  have  been  some  allowance  for 
these  human  proclivities.  If  the  Jews  of  our  day  had  followed  this 
tendency  of  their  ancestors  and  intermarried  with  other  nations,  there 
would  have  been  by  this  time  no  peculiar  people  to  persecute. 

The  most  important  feature  of  this  book  is  the  number  of  re- 
markable women  herein  described;  six  in  number,  Achsah,  Deborah, 
Jael,  Jephthah's  daughter,  Delilah,  and  two  whose  names  are  not 
mentioned — she  who  slew  Abimelech,  and  the  concubine  of  a  Levite, 
whose  fate  was  terrible  and  repulsive.  There  are  many  instances  in 
the  Old  Testament  where  women  have  been  thrown  to  the  mob,  like 
a  bone  to  dogs,  to  pacify  their  passions;  and  women  sufifer  to-day 
from  these  lessons  of  contempt,  taught  in  a  book  so  revered  by  the 
people.  E.  C.  S. 


The  writer  of  the  Book  of  Judges  is  unknown.  Professor  Moore, 
of  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  supposes  that  the  author  used  as 
a  basis  for  his  work  an  older  collection  of  tales  wherein  the  heroes 
of  Israel  and  the  varying  fortunes  of  the  people  were  related,  and 
which,  like  all  good  tales,  pointed  a  moral.  In  all  Jewish  litera- 
ture is  to  be  found  the  same  moral — namely,  that  the  prime  cause  of 
all  of  the  evils  which  befell  the  Jewish  people  was  unfaithfulness  to 
Jehovah.  "Adherence  to  the  written  law  brings  God's  favor,  while 
disobedience  is  followed  by  God's  wrath  and  punishment." 

It  is  not  obedience  to  the  inner  truth  of  the  individual  soul  that  is 
made  the  spring  of  action,  but  obedience  to  an  external  authority,  to 
a  book,  to  a  prophet,  to  a  judge  or  to  a  king.  In  Judges,  to  woman 
in  various  ways  is  given  an  exalted  position;  she  is  not  the  abject 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  ly 

slave  or  unclean  vessel,  the  drudge,  the  servile  sinner,  the  nonentity, 
as  depicted  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

Woman  has  at  no  time  of  the  world's  history  maintained  the  high 
position  which  she  commands  to-day  in  the  hearts  of  the  best  and 
most  enlightened;  but  there  were  stages  when  her  independence 
was  an  assured  fact.  With  Christianity  came  the  notion  of  man's 
dual  nature ;  the  physical  was  looked  upon  as  sinful ;  this  earth  was 
merely  preparatory  for  a  life  beyond.  Woman,  as  the  mother  of  the 
race,  was  not  honored  and  revered  as  such,  the  monastic  idea  being 
considered  more  God-like,  she  was  made  the  instrument  of  sin.  To 
be  born  into  this  life  was  not  a  blessing  so  long  as  ascetism  ruled 
supreme. 

The  Bible  has  been  of  service  in  some  respects ;  but  the  time  has 
come  for  us  to  point  out  the  evil  of  many  of  its  teachings.  It  now  be- 
hooves us  to  throw  the  light  of  a  new  civilization  upon  the  women 
who  figure  in  the  Book  of  Judges.  We  begin  with  Achsah,  a  woman 
of  good  sense.  Married  to  a  hero,  she  must  needs  look  out  for  ma- 
terial subsistence.  Her  husband  being  a  warrior,  had  probably  no 
property  of  his  own,  so  that  upon  her  devolved  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding the  means  of  livelihood.  Great  men,  heroic  warriors,  generally 
lack  the  practical  virtues,  so  that  it  seems  befitting  in  her  to  ask  of  her 
father  the  blessing  of  a  fruitful  piece  of  land;  her  husband  would 
have  been  satisfied  with  the  south  land.  She  knew  that  she  required 
the  upper  and  the  nether  springs  to  fertilize  it,  so  that  it  might  yield 
a  successful  harvest.  C.  B.  N. 


,X 


i8 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


Chapter  II. 


Judges  iv. 

4  And  Deborah,  a  prophetess,  the  wife  of 
Lapidoth,  judged  Israel  at  that  time. 

5  And  she  dwelt  under  the  palm  tree  of 
Deborah,  between  Ramah  and  Beth-el  in 
Mount  Ephraim;  and  the  children  of  Israel 
came  up  to  her  for  judgment. 

6  And  she  sent  and  called  Barak,  the  son 
of  Abinoam,  out  ot  Kedesh-naphtali,  and 
said  unto  him,  Hath  not  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel  commanded,  saying.  Go  and  draw  to- 
ward Mount  Tabor,  and  take  with  thee  ten 
thousand  men  of  the  children  of  Naphtali 
and  of  the  children  of  Zebulun? 

7  And  I  will  draw  unto  thee,  to  the  river 
Kishon,  Sisera  the  captain  of  Jabin's  army, 


with  his  chariots  and  his  multitude;  and  I 
will  deliver  him  into  thine  hand. 

8  And  Barak  said  unto  her.  If  thou  wilt 
go  with  me,  then  I  will  go;  but  if  thou  wilt 
not  go  with  me,  then  I  will  not  go. 

9  And  she  said,  I  will  surely  go  with 
thee;  notwithstanding  the  journey  that  thou 
takest  shall  not  be  tor  thine  honor;  for  the 
Lord  shall  sell  Sisera  into  the  hand  of  a 
woman.  And  Deborah  arose,  and  went  with 
Barak  to  Kedesh. 

10  And  Barak  called  Zebulon  and  Naph- 
tali to  Kedesh;  and  he  went  up  with  ten 
thousand  men  at  bis  feet;  and  Deborah 
went  up  with  him. 


SOME  commentators  say  that  Deborah  was  not  married  to  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Lapidoth,  that  such  a  terminology  is  not  cus- 
tomary to  the  name  of  a  person,  but  of  a  place.  They  think 
that  the  text  should  read,  Deborah  of  Lapidoth.  Indeed,  Deborah 
seems  to  have  had  too  much  independence  of  character,  wisdom  and 
self-reliance  to  have  ever  filled  the  role  of  the  Jewish  idea  of  a  wife. 

"Deborah"  signifies  "bee;"  and  by  her  industry,  sagacity,  useful- 
ness and  kindness  to  her  friends  and  dependents  she  fully  answers  to 
her  name.  "Lapidoth"  signifies  "lamps."  The  Rabbis  say  that  De- 
borah was  employed  to  make  wicks  for  the  lamps  in  the  Tabernacle; 
and  having  stooped  to  that  humble  office  for  God's  service,  she  was 
afterward  exalted  as  a  prophetess,  to  special  illumination  and  com- 
munion with  God — the  first  woman  thus  honored  in  Scripture. 

Deborah  was  a  woman  of  great  ability.  She  was  consulted  by 
the  children  of  Israel  in  all  matters  of  government,  of  religion  and  of 
war.  Her  judgment  seat  was  under  a  palm  tree,  known  ever  after  as 
"Deborah's  Palm."  Though  she  was  one  of  the  great  judges  of 
Israel  for  forty  years,  her  name  is  not  in  the  list,  as  it  should  have 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  19 

been,  with  Gideon,  Barak,  Samson  and  Jephthah.  Men  have  always 
been  slow  to  confer  on  women  the  honors  which  they  deserve. 

Deborah  did  not  judge  as  a  princess  by  any  civil  authority  con- 
ferred upon  her,  but  as  a  prophetess,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  God,  re- 
dressing grievances  and  correcting  abuses.  The  children  of  Israel 
appealed  to  her,  not  so  much  to  settle  controversies  between  man  and 
man  as  to  learn  what  was  amiss  in  their  service  to  God;  yet  she  did 
take  an  active  part  in  the  councils  of  war  and  spurred  the  generals  to 
their  duty. 

The  text  shows  Barak  hesitating  and  lukewarm  in  the  last  event- 
ful battle  with  Sisera  and  his  host.  He  flatly  refused  to  go  unless 
Deborah  would  go  with  him.  She  was  the  divinely  chosen  leader; 
to  her  came  the  command,  "Go  to  Mount  Tabor  and  meet  Sisera  and 
his  host."  Not  considering  herself  fit  to  lead  an  army,  she  chose 
Barak,  who  had  already  distinguished  himself.  He,  feeling  the  need 
of  her  wisdom  and  inspiration,  insisted  that  she  accompany  him;  so, 
mounted  on  pure  white  jackasses,  they  started  for  the  field  of  battle. 
The  color  of  the  jackass  indicated  the  class  to  which  the  rider  be- 
longed. Distinguished  personages  were  always  mounted  on  pure 
white  and  ordinary  mortals  on  gray  or  mottled  animals. 

As  they  journeyed  along  side  by  side,  with  wonderful  insight 
Deborah  saw  what  was  passing  in  Barak's  mind;  he  was  already 
pluming  himself  on  his  victory  over  Sisera.  So  she  told  him  that  the 
victory  would  not  be  his,  that  the  Lord  would  deliver  Sisera  into  the 
hands  of  a  woman.  It  added  an  extra  pang  to  a  man's  death  to  be 
slain  by  the  hand  of  a  woman.  Fortunately,  poor  Sisera  was  spared 
the  knowledge  of  his  humiliation.  What  a  picture  of  painful  con- 
trasts his  death  presents — a  loving  mother  watching  and  praying  at 
her  window  for  the  return  of  her  only  son,  while  at  the  same  time 
Jael  performs  her  deadly  deed  and  blasts  that  mother's  hopes  forever! 
What  a  melancholy  dirge  to  her  must  have  been  that  song  of  triumph, 
chanted  by  the  army  of  Deborah  and  Barak,  and  for  years  after,  by 
generation  after  generation. 

We  never  hear  sermons  pointing  women  to  the  heroic  virtues  of 
Deborah  as  worthy  of  their  imitation.  Nothing  is  said  in  the  pulpit 
to  rouse  them  from  the  apathy  of  ages,  to  inspire  them  to  do  and  dare 


20 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


great  things,  to  intellectual  and  spiritual  achievements,  in  real  com- 
munion with  the  Great  Spirit  of  the  Universe.  Oh,  no !  The  lessons 
doled  out  to  women,  from  the  canon  law,  the  Bible,  the  prayer-books 
and  the  catechisms,  are  meekness  and  self-abnegation;  ever  with 
covered  heads  (a  badge  of  servitude)  to  do  some  humble  service  for 
man;  that  they  are  unfit  to  sit  as  a  delegate  in  a  Methodist  confer- 
ence, to  be  ordained  to  preach  the  Gospel,  or  to  fill  the  office  of  elder, 
of  deacon  or  of  trustee,  or  to  enter  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  cathedrals. 

Deborah  was  a  poetess  as  well  as  a  prophetess,  a  judge  as  well  as 
a  general.  She  composed  the  famous  historical  poem  of  that  period 
on  the  eventful  final  battle  with  Sisera  and  his  hosts ;  and  she  ordered 
•the  soldiers  to  sing  the  triumphant  song  as  they  marched  through  the 
the  land,  that  all  the  people  might  catch  the  strains  and  that  genera- 
tions might  proclaim  the  victory. 


Judges  iv. 

i8  And  Jael  went  out  to  meet  Sisera,  and 
said  unto  him,  Turn  in,  my  Lord,  turn  in 
to  me;  fear  not.  And  when  he  had  turned 
in  unto  her  into  the  tent,  she  covered  him 
with  a  mantle. 

19  And  he  said  unto  her,  Give  me,  I  pray 
thee,  a  little  water  to  drink:  for  I  am 
thirsty.  And  she  opened  a  bottle  of  milk, 
and  gave  him  to  drink,  and  covered  him. 

20  Again  he  said  unto  her,  Stand  in  the 
door  of  the  tent,  and  it  shall  be,  when  any 
man  doth  come  and  inquire  of  thee,  and 
say,  Is  there  any  man  here?  that  thou  shalt 
say,  No. 


21  Then  Jael,  Heber's  wife,  took  a  nail  of 
the  tent,  and  took  a  hammer  in  her  hand 
and  went  softly  unto  him,  and  smote  the 
nail  into  his  temples,  and  fastened  it  into 
the  ground;  for  he  was  fast  asleep  and 
weary.    So  he  died. 

22  And  behold,  as  Barak  pursued  Sisera, 
Jael  came  out  to  meet  him,  and  said  unto 
him,  Come,  and  I  will  show  thee  the  man 
whom  thou  seekest.  And  when  he  came 
into  her  tent,  behold,  Sisera  lay  dead,  and 
the  nail  was  in  bis  temples. 


The  deception  and  the  cruelty  practised  on  Sisera  by  Jael  under 
the  guise  of  hospitality  is  revolting  under  our  code  of  morality.  To 
decoy  the  luckless  general  fleeing  before  his  enemy  into  her  tent, 
pledging  him  safety,  and  with  seeming  tenderness  ministering  to  his 
wants,  with  such  words  of  sympathy  and  consolation  lulling  him  to 
sleep,  and  then  in  cold  blood  driving  a  nail  through  his  temples, 
seems  more  like  the  work  of  a  fiend  than  of  a  woman. 

The  song  of  Deborah  and  Barak,  in  their  triumph  over  Sisera, 
has  been  sung  in  cathedrals  and  oratorios  and  celebrated  in  all  time 
for  its  beauty  and  pathos.    The  great  generals  did  not  forget  in  the 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES. 


2Z 


hour  of  victory  to  place  the  crown  of  honor  on  the  brow  of  Jael  for 
what  they  considered  a  great  deed  of  heroism.  Jael  imagined  her- 
self in  the  line  of  her  duty  and  specially  called  by  the  Lord  to  do  this 
service  for  his  people. 

Nations  make  their  ideal  gods  like  unto  themselves.  At  this 
period  He  was  the  God  of  battles.  Though  He  had  made  all  the 
tribes,  we  hope,  to  the  best  of  His  ability;  yet  He  hated  all,  the  sacred 
fabulist  tells  us,  but  the  tribe  of  Israel,  and  even  they  were  objects 
of  His  vengeance  half  the  time.  Instead  of  Midianites  and  Philis- 
tines, in  our  day  we  have  saints  and  sinners,  orthodox  and  heterodox, 
persecuting  each  other,  although  you  cannot  distinguish  them  in  the 
ordinary  walks  of  life.  They  are  governed  by  the  same  principles 
in  the  exchanges  and  the  marts  of  trade.  E.  C.  S. 


Judges  V. 

Then  sang  Deborah  and  Barak,  the  son 
of  Abinoam,  on  that  day,  saying, 

2  Praise  ye  the  Lord  for  the  avenging  of 
Israel,  when  the  people  willingly  offered 
themselves. 

3  Hear,  O  ye  kings;  give  ear,  O  ye 
princes;  I,  even  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord; 
I  will  sing  praise  to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel. 

4  Lord,  when  thou  wentest  out  of  Seir, 
when  thou  marchedst  out  of  the  field  of 
Edom,  the  earth  trembled,  and  the  heavens 
dropped,  the  clouds  also  dropped  water. 


5  The  mountains  melted  from  before  the 
Lord  even  that  Sinai  from  before  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel. 

6  In  the  days  of  Shamgar  the  son  of 
Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways 
were  unoccupied  and  the  travellers  walked 
through  byways. 

7  The  inhabitants  of  the  villages  ceased, 
they  ceased  in  Israel,  until  that  I,  Deborah, 
arose,  that  I  arose  a  mother  in  Israel. 


The  woman  who  most  attracts  our  attention  in  the  Book  of  Judges 
is  Deborah,  priestess,  prophetess,  poetess  and  judge.  What  woman 
is  there  in  modern  or  in  ancient  history  who  equals  in  loftiness  of 
position,  in  public  esteem  and  honorable  distinction  this  gifted  and 
heroic  Jewish  creation?  The  writer  who  compiled  the  story  of  her 
gifts  and  deeds  must  have  had  women  before  him  who  inspired  him 
with  such  a  wonderful  personality.  How  could  Christianity  teach  and 
preach  that  women  should  be  silent  in  the  church  when  already 
among  the  Jews  equal  honor  was  shown  to  women?  The  truth  is 
that  Christianity  has  in  many  instances  circumscribed  woman's 
sphere  of  action,  and  has  been  guilty  of  great  injustice  toward  the 
whole  sex. 


22  THE  WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

Deborah  was,  perhaps,  only  one  of  many  women  who  held  such 
high  and  honorable  positions.  Unlike  any  modern  ruler,  Deborah 
dispensed  justice  directly,  proclaimed  war,  led  her  men  to  victory, 
and  glorified  the  deeds  of  her  army  in  immortal  song.  This  is  the 
most  glorious  tribute  to  woman's  genius  and  power.  If  Deborah, 
way  back  in  ancient  Judaism,  was  considered  wise  enough  to  advise 
her  people  in  time  of  need  and  distress,  why  is  it  that  at  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  woman  has  to  contend  for  equal  rights  and 
fight  to  regain  every  inch  of  ground  she  has  lost  since  then?  It  is 
now  an  assured  fact  that  not  only  among  the  Hebrews,  but  also 
among  the  Greeks  and  the  Germans,  women  formerly  maintained 
greater  freedom  and  power. 

The  struggle  of  to-day  among  the  advanced  of  our  sex  is  to  regain 
and  to  reaffirm  what  has  been  lost  since  the  establishment  of  Christ- 
ianity. Every  religion,  says  a  modern  thinker,  has  curtailed  the  rights 
of  woman,  has  subjected  her  to  man's  ruling;  in  emphasizing  the  life 
beyond,  the  earthly  existence  became  a  secondary  consideration. 
We  are  learning  the  great  harm  which  comes  from  this  one-sided 
view  of  life;  and  by  arousing  woman  to  the  dignity  of  her  position  we 
shall  again  have  women  like  Deborah,  honored  openly  and  publicly 
for  political  wisdom,  to  whom  men  will  come  in  time  of  need. 

Genius  knows  no  sex;  and  woman  must  again  usurp  her  Divine 
prerogative  as  a  leader  in  thought,  song  and  action.  The  religion 
of  the  future  will  honor  and  revere  motherhood,  wifehood  and 
maidenhood.  Asceticism,  an  erroneous  philosophy,  church  doc- 
trines based  not  upon  reason  or  the  facts  of  life,  issued  out  of  crude 
imaginings;  phantasms  obstructed  the  truth,  held  in  check  the  wheel 
of  progress.  Let  our  church  women  turn  their  gaze  to  such  char- 
acters as  Deborah,  and  claim  the  same  recognition  in  their  different 
congregations. 

The  antagonism  which  the  Christian  church  has  built  up  between 
the  male  and  the  female  must  entirely  vanish.  Together  they  will 
slay  the  enemies — ignorance,  superstition  and  cruelty.  United  in 
every  enterprise,  they  will  win;  like  Deborah  and  Barak,  they  will 
clear  the  highways  and  restore  peace  and  prosperity  to  their  people. 
Like  Deborah,  woman  will  forever  be  the  inspired  leader,  if  she  will 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES. 


23 


have  the  courage  to  assert  and  maintain  her  power.  Her  aspira- 
tions must  keep  pace  with  the  demands  of  our  civilization.  "New 
times  teach  new  duties." 

God  never  discriminates;  it  is  man  who  has  made  the  laws  and 
compelled  woman  to  obey  him.  The  Old  Testament  and  the  New 
are  books  written  by  men;  the  coming  Bible  will  be  the  result  of  the 
eflforts  of  both,  and  contain  the  wisdom  of  both  sexes,  their  com- 
bined spiritual  experience.  Together  they  will  unfold  the  mysteries 
of  life,  and  heaven  will  be  here  on  earth  when  love  and  justice  reign 
supreme.  C.  B.  N. 


Judges  via. 

30  And  Gideon  had  three  score  and  ten 
sons:  for  he  had  many  wives. 

31  And  his  concubine  that  was  in  She- 
chem,  she  also  bare  him  a  son,  whose  name 
he  called  Abimelech. 

Judges  ix. 

52  And  Abimelech  came  unto  the  tower, 
and  fought  against  it,  and  went  hard  unto 
the  door  of  the  tower  to  burn  it  with  fire. 


53  And  a  certain  woman  cast  a  piece  of  a 
millstone  upon  Abimelech's  head,  and  all 
to  break  his  skull. 

54  Then  he  called  hastily  unto  the  young 
man,  his  armour-bearer,  and  said  unto  him, 
Draw  thy  sword,  and  slay  me,  that  men  say 
not  of  me,  A  woman  slew  him.  And  his 
young  man  thrust  him  through,  and  he 
died. 


Abimelech  destroyed  the  city  of  Thebez,  drove  all  the  people  into 
a  tower  and  then  tried  to  set  it  on  fire,  as  he  had  done  in  many 
places  before  in  his  war  on  other  tribes ;  but  here  he  lost  his  life,  and 
at  the  hand  of  a  woman,  which  was  considered  the  greatest  disgrace 
which  could  befall  a  man.  Commentators  say  that  as  Sisera  and 
Abimelech  were  exceptionally  proud  and  lofty,  they  were  thus  de- 
graded in  their  death.  Sisera  was  spared  the  knowledge  of  his  fate 
by  being  taken  oflf  when  asleep;  but  Abimelech  saw  the  stone  coming 
and  knew  that  it  was  from  the  hand  of  a  woman,  an  added  pang  to 
his  death  agony.  He  had  no  thoughts  of  his  wicked  life  nor  his 
eternal  welfare,  but  with  his  dying  breath  implored  his  armor-bearer 
to  thrust  him  through  with  his  sword,  that  it  might  not  be  said  that 
he  was  slain  by  the  hand  of  a  woman. 

Abimelech  had  three  score  and  ten  brethren.  It  is  said  that  his 
mother  roused  his  ambition  to  be  one  of  the  judges  of  Israel.     To  at- 


24 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


tain  this  he  killed  all  his  brethren  but  one,  who  escaped.  He  enjoyed 
his  ill-gotten  honors  but  a  short  space  of  time.  We  find  many  such 
stories  in  the  Hebrew  mythology  which  have  no  foundation  in  fact. 


Judges  xi. 

30  And  Jephthah  vowed  a  vow  unto  the 
Lord,  and  said,  If  thou  shalt  without  fail 
deliver  the  children  of  Ammon  into  mine 
hands, 

31  Then  it  shall  be  that  whatsoever  Com- 
eth forth  of  the  doors  of  my  house  to  meet 
me,  when  I  return  in  peace  from  the  chil- 
dren of  Ammon,  shall  surely  be  the  Lord's; 
and  I  will  offer  it  up  for  a  burnt  offering. 

33  And  he  smote  them  from  Aroer,  even 
till  thou  come  to  Minnith,  even  twenty 
cities,  and  unto  the  plain  of  the  vineyards, 
with  a  very  great  slaughter.  Thus  the  chil- 
dren of  Ammon  were  subdued  before  the 
children  of  Israel. 

34  And  Jephthah  came  to  Mizpeh  unto 
his  house,  and,  behold,  his  daughter  came 
out  to  meet  him  with  timbrels  and  with 
dances;  and  she  was  his  only  child;  beside 
her  be  had  neither  son  nor  daughter. 


35  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  saw  her, 
that  he  rent  his  clothes,  and  said,  Alas,  my 
daughter  1  thou  has  brought  me  very  low, 
and  thou  art  one  of  them  that  trouble  me: 
tor  I  have  opened  my  mouth  unto  the 
Lord,  and  I  cannot  go  back. 

36  And  she  said  unto  him.  My  father,  if 
thou  hast  opened  thy  mouth  unto  the  Lord, 
do  to  me  according  to  that  which  hath  pro- 
ceeded out  of  thy  mouth ;  forasmuch  as  the 
Lord  hath  taken  vengeance  for  thee  of  thine 
enemies,  even  of  the  children  of  Ammon. 

37  And  she  said  unto  her  father.  Let  this 
thing  be  done  for  me:  let  me  alone  two 
months,  that  I  may  go  up  and  down  upon 
the  mountains,  and  bewail  my  virginity,  I 
and  my  fellows. 


A  woman's  vow,  as  we  have  already  seen,  could  be  disallowed  at 
the  pleasure  of  any  male  relative;  but  a  man's  was  considered  sacred 
even  though  it  involved  the  violation  of  the  sixth  commandment,  the 
violation  of  the  individual  rights  of  another  human  being.  These 
loving  fathers  in  the  Old  Testament,  like  Jephthah  and  Abraham, 
thought  to  make  themselves  specially  pleasing  to  the  Lord  by  sacri- 
ficing their  children  to  Him  as  burnt  offerings.  If  the  ethics  of  their 
moral  code  had  permitted  suicide,  they  might  with  some  show  of 
justice  have  offered  themselves,  if  they  thought  that  the  first-born  kid 
would  not  do;  but  what  right  had  they  to  offer  up  their  sons  and 
daughters  in  return  for  supposed  favors  from  the  Lord? 

The  submission  of  Isaac  and  Jephthah's  daughter  to  this  violation 
of  their  most  sacred  rights  is  truly  pathetic.  But,  like  all  oppressed 
classes,  they  were  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they  had  any  natural,  in- 
alienable rights.  We  have  such  a  type  of  womanhood  even  in  our 
day.  If  any  man  had  asked  Jephthah's  daughter  if  she  would  not 
like  to  have  the  Jewish  law  on  vows  so  amended  that  she  might  dis- 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  25 

allow  her  father's  vow,  and  thus  secure  to  herself  the  right  of  life,  she 
would  no  doubt  have  said,  "No;  I  have  all  the  rights  I  want/'  just 
as  a  class  of  New  York  women  said  in  1895,  when  it  was  proposed 
to  amend  the  constitution  of  the  State  in  their  favor. 

The  only  favor  which  Jephthah's  daughter  asks,  is  that  she  may 
have  two  months  of  solitude  on  the  mountain  tops  to  bewail  the  fact 
that  she  will  die  childless.  Motherhood  among  the  Jewish  women 
was  considered  the  highest  honor  and  glory  ever  vouchsafed  to  mor- 
tals. So  she  was  permitted  for  a  brief  period  to  enjoy  her  freedom, 
accompanied  by  young  Jewish  maidens  who  had  hoped  to  dance  at 
her  wedding. 

Commentators  differ  as  to  the  probable  fate  of  Jephthah's  daugh- 
ter. Some  think  that  she  was  merely  sequestered  in  some  religious 
retreat,  others  that  the  Lord  spoke  to  Jephthah  as  He  did  to  Abra- 
ham forbidding  the  sacrifice.  We  might  attribute  this  helpless  con- 
dition of  woman  to  the  benighted  state  of  those  times  if  we  did  not 
see  the  trail  of  the  serpent  through  our  civil  laws  and  church  disci- 
pline. 

This  Jewish  maiden  is  known  in  history  only  as  Jephthah's 
daughter — she  belongs  to  the  no-name  series.  The  father  owns  her 
absolutely,  having  her  life  even  at  his  disposal.  We  often  hear  peo- 
ple laud  the  beautiful  submission  and  the  self-sacrifice  of  this  name- 
less maiden.  To  me  it  is  pitiful  and  painful.  I  would  that  this  page 
of  history  were  gilded  with  a  dignified  whole-souled  rebellion.  I 
would  have  had  the  daughter  receive  the  father's  confession  with  a 
stern  rebuke,  saying:  "I  will  not  consent  to  such  a  sacrifice.  Your 
vow  must  be  disallowed.  You  may  sacrifice  your  own  life  as  you 
please,  but  you  have  no  right  over  mine.  I  am  on  the  threshold  of 
life,  the  joys  of  youth  and  of  middle  age  are  all  before  me.  You  are 
in  the  sunset;  you  have  had  your  blessings  and  your  triumphs;  but 
mine  are  yet  to  come.  Life  is  to  me  full  of  hope  and  of  happiness. 
Better  that  you  die  than  I,  if  the  God  whom  you  worship  is  pleased 
with  the  sacrifice  of  human  life.  I  consider  that  God  has  made  me 
the  arbiter  of  my  own  fate  and  all  my  possibilities.  My  first  duty  is 
to  develop  all  the  powers  given  to  me  and  to  make  tlie  most  of 
myself  and  my  own  life.     Self-development  is  a  higher  duty  than 


26  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


self-sacrifice.  I  demand  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  Jewish  law 
on  vows.  Not  with  my  consent  can  you  fulfill  yours."  This  would 
have  been  a  position  worthy  of  a  brave  woman.  E.  C.  S. 


The  ideal  womanhood  portrayed  by  ancient  writers  has  had  by 
far  too  much  sway.  The  prevailing  type  which  permeates  all  litera- 
ture is  that  of  inferiority  and  subjection.  In  early  times  Oriental 
poets  often  likened  woman  to  some  clear,  flawless  jewel,  and  made 
them  serve  simply  as  ornaments,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were 
made  subordinate  by  the  legislation  of  barbarous  minds;  and  men, 
because  of  their  selfish  passion,  have  inflicted  woe  after  woe  upon 
them.  Ancient  literature  is  wholly  against  the  equality  of  the  sexes 
or  the  rights  of  women,  and  subordinates  them  in  every  relation  of 
life. 

The  writings  of  the  Bible,  especially  the  Old  Testament,  are  no 
exception  to  this  rule.  The  reference,  "The  sons  of  God  and  daugh- 
ters of  men,"  while  it  admits  of  many  interpolations,  legendary  or 
mythical  as  it  may  be,  portrays  the  real  animus  of  the  Scriptures.  To 
what  extent  the  sentiment  of  the  Hebrews  favored  sons  rather  than 
daughters,  and  the  injustice  of  this  distinction  is  fully  exemplified  by 
the  stories  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  and  of  Jephthah  and  his  daughter. 
Abraham  was  commanded  by  his  God  to  sacrifice  his  son  Isaac, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Canaanites,  who  often  slew  their  children  and 
burnt  them  upon  their  altars  in  honor  of  their  deities.  But  when  all 
was  made  ready  for  the  sacrifice  an  angel  of  Jehovah  appeared,  the 
hand  of  Abraham  was  stayed,  and  a  ram  was  made  a  substitute  for 
the  son  of  promise. 

The  conditions  were  quite  different  in  the  case  of  Jephthah  and 
his  daughter.  The  Israelites  had  been  brought  very  low  in  their 
contest  with  the  Ammonites,  and  they  chose  the  famous  warrior, 
Jephthah,  to  lead  them  against  their  foe,  who  with  warlike  zeal  sum- 
moned the  hosts  to  battle.  The  risk  was  enormous,  the  enemy  pow- 
erful, and  the  general,  burning  for  victory,  intent  on  securing  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Deity,  made  a  solemn  and  fatal  vow. 


COMMENTS   ON  JUDGES.  27 

In  the  first  case  it  was  a  direct  command  of  God,  but  means  were 
found  to  revoke  this  expHcit  command  with  regard  to  a  son;  in  the 
second  case  it  was  only  a  hasty  and  unwise  promise  of  a  general  going 
to  war,  and  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  age  felt  it  unnecessary  to 
evade  its  fulfillment — the  victim  was  only  a  girl.  The  unhappy  father 
must  sacrifice  his  daughter! 

What  a  masculine  coloring  is  given  to  the  rest  of  the  narrative : 
"A  maiden  who  did  not  mourn  her  death,  but  wandered  up  and  down 
the  mountain  mourning  her  virginity."  So  much  glamor  has  been 
thrown  by  poetry  and  by  song,  over  the  sacrifice  of  this  Jewish  maid- 
en, that  the  popular  mind  has  become  too  benumbed  to  perceive  its 
great  injustice.  The  Iphigenias  have  been  many  and  are  still  too 
numerous  to  awaken  compassion.  We  must  destroy  the  root  of  this 
false  and  pernicious  teaching,  and  plant  in  its  place  a  just  and  right- 
eous doctrine. 

What  women  have  to  win  for  the  race  is  a  theory  of  conduct  which 
shall  be  more  equitable.  The  unalterable  subserviency  of  woman  in 
her  natural  condition  can  never  be  overcome  and  social  develop- 
ment progress  so  long  as  there  is  a  lack  of  distributive  justice  to 
every  living  soul  without  discrimination  of  sex.  L.  S. 


28 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


Chapter  III. 


Judges  xiii. 

2  And  there  was  a  certain  man  of  Zorah, 
of  the  family  of  the  Danites,  whose  name 
was  Manoah ;  and  his  wife  was  barren. 

3  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
unto  the  woman,  and  said  unto  her,  Behold 
now,  thou  art  barren;  but  thou  shalt  con- 
ceive, and  bear  a  son. 

4  Now  therefore  beware,  I  pray  thee,  and 
drink  not  wme  nor  strong  drink,  and  eat 
not  any  unclean  thing: 

5  For,  lo,  thou  shalt  bear  a  son;  and  no 
razor  shall  come  on  his  head:  for  the  child 
shall  be  a  Nazarite  unto  God;  and  he  shall 
begin  to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  Philistines. 

6  Then  the  woman  came  and  told  her  hus- 
band, saying,  A  man  of  God  came  unto  me, 
and  his  countenance  was  like  the  counten- 
ance of  an  angel  of  God,  very  terrible:  but 
I  asked  him  not  whence  he  was,  neither  told 
he  me  his  name: 

7  But  he  said  unto  me.  Behold,  thou  shalt 
bear  a  son;  and  now  drink  no  wine  nor 
strong  drink,  neither  eat  any  unclean  thing: 
for  the  child  shall  be  a  Nazarite  to  God  to 
the  day  of  his  death. 


8  Then  Manoah  entreated  the  Lord,  and 
said,  O  my  Lord,  let  the  man  of  God  which 
thou  didst  send  come  again  unto  us,  and 
teach  us  what  we  shall  do  unto  the  child 
that  shall  be  born. 

9  And  God  hearkened  to  the  voice  of 
Manoah:  and  the  angel  of  God  came  again 
unto  the  woman  as  she  sat  in  the  field:  but 
Manoah  her  husband  was  not  with  her. 

10  And  the  woman  made  haste,  and  ran, 
and  shewed  her  husband,  and  said  unto 
him,  Behold,  the  man  hath  appeared  unto 
me,  that  came  unto  me  the  other  day. 

11  And  Manoah  arose,  and  went  after  hig 
wife,  and  came  to  the  man,  and  said  unto 
him,  Art  thou  the  man  that  spakest  unto 
the  woman?    And  he  said,  I  am. 

12  And  Manoah  said.  Now  let  thy  words 
come  to  pass.  How  shall  we  order  the 
child,  and  how  shall  we  do  unto  him? 

13  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto 
Manoah,  Of  all  that  I  said  unto  the  woman 
let  her  beware. 


WE  come  now  to  a  very  interesting  incident,  giving  proof  of 
the  remarkable  knowledge  which  the  writers  had  of  some 
intrinsic  laws  and  the  power  of  transmission  which,  even 
to-day,  are  known  and  adhered  to  only  by  a  very  small  minority  of 
wise,  thoughtful  mothers.  However,  the  wife  of  Manoah,  the  future 
mother  of  Samson,  is  visited  by  an  angel,  giving  her  instructions  as 
to  her  way  of  living  during  pregnancy.  It  appears  that  the  writer 
was  acquainted  with  some  pre-natal  influences  and  their  effect  upon 
the  unborn. 

We  are  just  now  beginning  to  investigate  the  important  problem 
of  child  culture.     Many  good  thoughts  have  been  given  on  this  sub- 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  29 

ject  by  earnest  thinkers.  A  knowledge  of  these  important  laws  of 
life  will  do  away  with  the  most  harassing  evils  and  sins  which  human 
flesh  is  heir  to.  Intelligent,  free  mothers  will  be  enabled  to  forecast 
not  only  the  physical,  but  also  the  psychical,  traits  of  their  offspring. 
How  and  why  this  once  recognized  knowledge  was  lost  we  know  not. 
We  may,  however,  rightly  infer  that  so  long  as  woman  was  not  the 
arbiter  of  her  own  destiny  she  had  no  power  to  make  use  of  this 
knowledge.  Only  the  thoughful,  independent  wife  can  administer 
the  laws  and  the  rules  necessary  for  her  own  wellbeing  and  that  of 
her  offspring.     Freedom  is  the  first  prerequisite  to  a  noble  life. 

Observe  how  simple  and  trustful  the  relation  is  between  this  hus- 
band and  wife.  Manoah  is  thoughtful  and  ready  to  unite  with  his  wife 
in  all  that  the  angel  had  commanded.  There  is  no  trace  of  disunion 
or  of  disobedience  to  the  higher  law  which  his  wife  had  been  in- 
structed to  follow.  To  her  the  law  was  revealed,  and  he  sustained 
her  in  its  observance.  Mark,  however,  one  difference  from  our  in- 
terpretation of  to-day,  and  how  the  omission  of  it  worked  out  the  de- 
struction of  the  child.  All  the  injunctions  received  were  of  a  physical 
nature ;  strength  of  body  and  faith  in  God  were  to  be  the  attributes 
through  which  Samson  was  to  serve  his  people.  The  absence  of 
moral  traits  is  very  evident  in  Samson ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  he 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  wiles  of  designing  women.  It  was  not  moral, 
but  physical  heroism  which  distinguished  Samson  from  his  com- 
batants. Vengeance,  cruelty,  deceit,  cunning  devices  were  prac- 
tised not  only  by  the  Philistines,  but  likewise  by  the  Nazarite. 

The  angel  who  appeared  to  Manoah's  wife  was  probably  her  own 
inner  sense,  and  the  appearance  is  to  be  understood  rather  as  a  figure 
of  speech  than  as  an  actual  occurrence,  although  there  may  have  been, 
as  there  are  to-day,  people  who  were  so  credulous  as  to  believe  that 
such  things  actually  occurred.  The  angel  who  whispers  into  our 
ears  is  knowledge,  foresight,  high  motive,  ideality,  unselfish  love. 
A  conscious  attitude  towards  the  ideal  still  unattained,  a  lofty  stand- 
ard of  virtue  for  the  coming  offspring,  an  intelligent,  pure  father- 
hood, and  a  wise,  loving  motherhood  must  take  the  place  of  a  mys- 
terious, instinctive  trust — the  blind  faith  of  the  past.  C.  B.  N. 


30  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

One  would  suppose  that  this  woman,  so  honored  of  God,  worthy 
to  converse  with  angels  on  the  most  delicate  of  her  domestic  rela- 
tions, might  have  had  a  name  to  designate  her  personality  instead  of 
being  mentioned  merely  as  the  wife  of  Manoah  or  the  mother  of 
Samson.  I  suppose  that  it  is  from  these  Biblical  examples  that  the 
wives  of  this  Republic  are  known  as  Mrs.  John  Doe  or  Mrs.  Richard 
Roe,  to  whatever  Roe  or  Doe  she  may  belong.  If  she  chance  to 
marry  two  or  three  times,  the  woman's  identity  is  wholly  lost.  To 
make  this  custom  more  ludicrous,  women  sometimes  keep  the  names 
of  two  husbands,  clinging  only  to  the  maiden  name,  as  Dolly  Doe 
Roe,  ignoring  her  family  name,  the  father  from  whom  she  may  have 
derived  all  of  her  talent.  Samson's  wife  had  no  name,  nor  had  the 
second  woman  on  whom  he  bestowed  his  attentions ;  to  the  third  one 
is  vouchsafed  the  name  of  Delilah,  but  no  family  name  is  mentioned. 
All  three  represented  one  type  of  character  and  betrayed  the  "conse- 
crated Nazarite,"  "the  canonized  Judge  of  Israel." 

It  would  be  a  great  blessing  to  the  race,  if  parents  would  take  heed 
to  the  important  lesson  taught  in  the  above  texts.  The  nine  months 
of  ante-natal  life  is  the  period  when  the  mother  can  make  the  deepest 
impression  in  forming  future  character,  when  she  has  absolute 
power  for  weal  or  for  woe  over  the  immortal  being.  Locke,  the 
philosopher,  said,  "Every  child  is  born  into  the  world  with  a  mind  like 
a  piece  of  blank  paper,  and  we  may  write  thereon  whatever  we  will ;" 
but  Descartes  said,  "Nay,  nay;  the  child  is  born  with  all  its  possibili- 
ties. You  can  develop  all  you  find  there,  but  you  cannot  add  genius 
or  power."  "Nascitur,  non  fit,"  although  our  learned  blacksmith, 
Elihu  Burritt,  always  reversed  this  motto.  E.  C.  S. 


No  body  of  ecclesiastics  has  taught  the  message  of  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  to  Manoah's  wife  as  a  message  of  direction  from  the  Lord 
to  save  the  race  from  the  disastrous  results  of  strong  drink  and  im- 
pure food.  And  although  the  degree  of  enlightenment  attained 
shows  that  science  and  the  instructions  of  the  angel  to  Manoah's  wife 
agree,  this  knowledge  does  not  protect  the  unborn  child  from  the 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  31 

effects  of  the  use  by  the  mothers  of  to-day  of  wine,  strong  drink  and 
unclean  food. 

Could  the  light  which  reveals  to  the  mother  what  would  be  a 
saving  power  to  her  child,  be  followed  carefully  by  both  herself  and 
the  father  during  ante-natal  life,  the  race  would  more  rapidly  be 
brought  to  the  full  stature  of  its  destined  perfection.  Not  only  is 
physical  endowment  available  to  the  child  through  the  wholesome 
sustenance  of  the  mother,  but  the  qualities  of  the  higher  nature  may 
also  be  transmitted,  and  moral  grandeur  be  an  inheritance  equally 
with  grand  physical  powers. 

The  theological  teaching  that  has  made  human  nature  depraved 
and  cut  off  from  the  divine  source  of  all  perfection,  has  hindered  the 
development  of  the  higher  faculties  of  understanding.  It  has  led 
to  a  misapprehension  of  the  creative  power  of  parenthood.  From  the 
idea  that  the  creation  of  humanity  was  finished  "in  the  beginning," 
and  that  man  fell  from  his  high  estate  as  the  image  of  God,  has  result- 
ed a  demoralized  race.  The  instruction  of  the  angel  to  Samson's 
mother,  was  in  accord  with  the  dominant  spirit  that  wrought  the 
victories  of  Israel  over  enemies,  and  the  reign  of  physical  force  that 
characterized  the  people  of  that  age. 

The  woman,  having  had  no  experience  of  motherhood,  had  not 
been  subject  to  the  deep  soul-stirring  that  belongs  to  the  mystery 
of  life  in  a  developed  womanhood.  Nor  did  that  experience  evi- 
dently transmit  to  Samson  a  high  degree  of  moral  strength.  He 
was  but  a  well  developed  physical  organism,  which  the  spirit  of  life 
could  act  through  without  limitation.  He  consorted  with  the  harlot, 
but  it  was  the  woman  whom  he  loved  who  succeeded  in  wringing 
from  him  the  secret  of  his  strength,  and  thus  the  possibility  of  de- 
livering him  to  his  enemies. 

In  the  relation  of  women  to  this  man  of  might  there  is  illus- 
trated the  dominant  characteristics  of  the  purely  animal  man.  The 
father  of  Samson's  first  wife  gave  her  to  another  man  after  Samson 
had  gone  in  anger  to  his  father's  house,  and  when  he  returned  and 
proposed  to  resume  his  conjugal  relations,  this  father  proposed  that 
he  should  take  the  younger  sister,  who  "was  fairer  than  she." 

It  is  a  significant  suggestion  of  the  quality  of  the  relation  that 


32 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


Samson's  first  wife  (who  had  also  no  name  of  her  own)  and  Delilah, 
whom  he  loved,  were  both  more  loyal  to  their  own  people,  and  had 
more  regard  for  them,  than  for  the  man  to  whom  they  had  been 
"given."  L.  B.  C. 


Judges  xiv. 

1  And  Samson  went  down  to  Timnath, 
and  saw  a  woman  in  Timnath  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  Philistines. 

2  And  he  came  up,  and  told  his  father  and 
his  mother,  and  said,  I  have  seen  a  woman 
in  Timnath  of  the  daughters  of  the  Philis- 
tines: now  therefore  get  her  for  me  to  wife. 


3  Then  his  father  and  his  mother  said 
unto  him,  Is  there  never  a  woman  among 
the  daughters  of  thy  brethren,  or  among  all 
my  people,  that  thou  goest  to  take  a  wife  of 
the  uncircumcised  Philistines?  And  Sam- 
son said  unto  his  father.  Get  her  for  me; 
for  she  pleaseth  me  well. 


So  the  father  and  the  mother,  much  against  their  wishes,  went 
down  to  Timnath  and  secured  for  Samson  the  desired  wife.  He 
conformed  to  the  custom  of  the  Philistines;  and  on  the  occasion  of 
the  nuptial  solemnities  he  made  a  great  feast,  and  invited  thirty  young 
men  to  join  in  the  festivities,  which  lasted  seven  days.  These  feasts 
were  enlivened  with  interesting  discussions,  stories  and  riddles. 
Samson  propounded  one,  with  promises  of  valuable  gifts  to  those 
who  guessed  the  riddle:  "Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat,  out  of 
the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 

It  seems  that  on  one  occasion,  being  attacked  by  a  lion,  Sam- 
son, without  any  weapon  of  defense,  tore  the  lion  to  pieces.  Pass- 
ing the  vineyard  some  time  after,  he  went  in  to  see  if  the  lion  still 
rested  there;  and  lo!  the  skeleton  was  a  hive  of  bees.  He  partook 
freely  of  the  honey  and  carried  some  to  his  parents.  Being  proof 
against  the  lion's  paws,  he  had  no  fear  of  the  bees.  Day  after  day 
passed,  and  the  young  men  could  not  guess  the  riddle.  So  they  per- 
suaded the  wife  to  coax  him  for  the  answer,  with  promises  of  silver 
if  she  succeeded,  and  threatenings  of  wrath  if  she  failed.  So,  with 
constant  weeping  and  doubts  of  his  love,  she  at  last  worried  the 
answer  out  of  him,  with  promises  of  secrecy. 

As  soon  as  Samson  saw  that  he  was  betrayed  he  sent  his  wife 
back  to  her  father's  house,  who  gave  her  at  once  to  one  of  the  leaders 
at  the  festivities.  As  Samson  loved  the  woman,  he  forgave  her,  and 
sought  to  bring  her  back  to  his  own  home.  The  father  informed 
him  that  he  had  already  given  her  to  another,  and  that  he  might  have 


COMMENTS   ON  JUDGES.  33 

the  younger  daughter,  if  he  chose,  who  had  far  more  grace  and 
beauty.  The  commentators  say  that  it  was  very  generous  in  Samson 
to  make  this  concession,  as  he  was  the  party  offended.  But  Sam- 
son was  himself  a  riddle  and  a  paradox  of  a  man.  "He  saw  some- 
thing in  her  face  which  pleased  him  well."  "He  that  in  the  choice 
of  a  wife  is  guided  by  his  eye,  and  governed  by  his  fancy,  must  after- 
wards blame  himself  if  he  find  a  Philistine  in  his  anns."  It  is  a  great 
calamity  that  even  able  men  are  so  easily  influenced  by  weak  and 
wicked  women  to  do  what  they  know  is  dangerous;  and  yet  they 
feel  it  a  disparagement  to  follow  the  advice  of  a  good  wife  in  what  is 
virtuous  and  praiseworthy. 

Samson  was  most  unfortunate  in  all  his  associations  with  women. 
It  is  a  pity  that  the  angel  who  impressed  on  his  parents  the  im- 
portance of  considering  everything  that  pertained  to  the  physical 
development  of  the  child,  had  not  made  some  suggestions  to  them  as 
to  the  formation  of  his  moral  character.  Even  his  physical  prowess 
was  not  used  by  him  for  any  great  purpose.  To  kill  a  lion,  to  walk 
off  with  the  gates  of  the  city,  to  catch  three  hundred  foxes  and  to  tie 
them  together  by  their  tails  two  by  two,  with  firebrands  to  burn  the 
cornfields  and  the  vineyards — all  this  seems  more  like  the  frolics  of  a 
boy,  than  the  military  tactics  of  a  great  general  or  the  statesmanship 
of  a  Judge  in  Israel. 

Samson  does  not  seem  to  have  learned  wisdom  from  experience 
in  his  dealings  with  women.  He  foolishly  trusted  another  woman, 
"whose  face  pleased  him,"  with  the  secret  of  his  great  strength, 
which  she,  too,  worried  out  of  him  with  tears  and  doubts  of  his  affec- 
tion. For  the  betrayal  of  his  secret  the  Philistines  paid  her  eleven 
hundred  pieces  of  silver. 

In  the  last  act  of  this  complicated  tragedy,  it  is  said  that  Samson 
at  his  death  killed  more  people  than  in  all  his  life  before.  After  De- 
lilah betrayed  him  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  they  put  out  his 
eyes,  and  left  him  to  grind  in  the  prison  house.  As  was  their  custom, 
they  brought  him  out  to  make  sport  for  the  people  assembled  in  a 
spacious  building.  As  his  hair  had  begun  to  grow,  he  braced  him- 
self against  the  door  posts,  overturned  the  building,  and  killed  all  of 
it?  occupants,  and  himself,  gladly  ending  his  own  sad  life. 


34  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

The  name  Delilah  is  fitly  used  to  describe  those  who  with  flattery 
bring  destruction  on  those  whom  they  pretend  to  love.  Many  a 
strong  man  has  been  slain  by  this  type  of  designing  woman.  Com- 
mentators do  not  agree  as  to  whether  Delilah  was  an  Israelite  or  a 
Philistine,  probably  the  latter,  as  Samson  seemed  to  be  more  pleased 
with  the  women  of  that  tribe  than  with  those  of  his  own.  One  hesi- 
tates to  decide  which  is  most  surprising — Samson's  weakness  or  De- 
lilah's wickedness.  E.  C.  S. 


The  writer  of  the  Book  of  Judges  would  fail  in  his  endeavor  to 
present  a  complete  picture  of  his  time,  did  he  omit  the  important 
characteristic  of  a  woman  and  her  influence  upon  man  therein  por- 
trayed. 

In  Delilah,  the  treacherous,  the  sinister,  the  sensuous  side  of 
woman  is  depicted.  Like  Vivian,  in  the  Idyls  of  King  Arthur,  De- 
lilah uses — nay,  abuses — the  power  which  she  had  gained  over  Sam- 
son by  virtue  of  her  beauty  and  her  personal  attractions.  She  uses 
these  personal  gifts  for  a  sinister  purpose.  They  serve  her  as  a 
snare  to  beguile  the  man  whose  lust  she  had  aroused. 

What  a  lesson  this  story  teaches  to  men  as  well  as  to  women! 
Let  man  overcome  the  lust  of  his  eyes  and  prostitution  will  die  a 
natural  death.  Let  woman  beware  that  her  influence  is  of  the  purest 
and  highest;  let  her  spiritual  nature  be  so  attractive  that  man  will 
be  drawn  toward  it.  Forever  "the  eternal  womanly  draweth  man" 
onward  and  upward.  Soul  unity  will  become  the  rule  when  the 
same  chastity  and  purity  are  demanded  of  the  sexes  alike.  Woman's 
chastity  is  never  secure  as  long  as  there  are  two  standards  of  morality. 

C  B.  N. 


"Colonial  days"  is  the  felicitous  term  given  by  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott  to  the  period  of  nearly  three  centuries  following  the  cam- 
paign against  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  when  the  Israelites  took 
possession  of  their  land.  The  Book  of  Judges  is  a  record  of  those 
"colonial  days;"  and  they  are  described  also  in  the  first  part  of  the 


COMMENTS  ON  JUDGES.  3S 

book  which  bears  the  name  of  the  prophet  Samuel.  During  those 
Hebrew  "colonial  days,"  as  Dr.  Abbott  states,  "there  was  no  true 
Capital — indeed,  no  true  Nation.  There  were  a  variety  of  separate 
provinces,  having  almost  as  little  common  life  as  had  the  American 
colonies  before  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
In  war  these  colonies  united;  in  peace  they  separated  from  each 
other  again." 

But  in  one  thing  they  were  united.  They  clung  to  the  teachings 
of  their  great  law-giver,  Moses,  and  emphasized  a  belief  in  one 
righteous  God.  Whether  expressed  by  priestly  ritual  or  in  prophetic 
declaration,  the  truth  was  clearly  revealed  that  the  Jews  were  a  peo- 
ple who  worshiped  one  God,  and  that  they  accorded  to  Him  the  at- 
tribute of  righteousness.  He  was  a  sovereign,  but  a  just  one.  And 
to  this  belief  they  clung  tenaciously,  believing  themselves  justified  in 
conquering  the  nations  about  them,  because  their  God  was  the  only 
ruler. 

The  Book  of  Judges  contains  the  record  of  many  harrowing 
events;  but  what  besides  savagery  can  be  expected  of  a  warring 
people  whose  Deity  is  invoked  as  the  "God  of  battles,"  and  who  be- 
lieved themselves  Divinely  commissioned  to  drive  other  tribes  from 
off  the  face  of  the  earth !  The  book  is  as  sensational  as  are  our  news- 
papers; and  if  each  chapter  and  verse  were  illustrated  as  are  the 
papers  of  what  is  termed  the  "New  Journalism,"  they  would  present 
an  appearance  of  striking  and  painful  similarity. 

The  fate  of  Adoni-besek,  an  example  of  retributive  justice;  the 
treacherous  act  of  the  left-handed  Ehud,  causing  the  death  of  the  fat 
King  Eglon  of  Moab ;  the  inhospitable  cruelty — or  cruel  inhospital- 
ity — of  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber,  whose  hammer  and  nail  are  welded 
fast  in  historical  narration  with  the  brow  of  the  sleeping  guest, 
Sisera,  the  captain  of  Jabin's  army;  the  famous  exploits  of  Gideon, 
who,  if  he  was  a  superior  strategist  and  warrior,  gave  little  evidence, 
by  his  seventy  sons,  of  his  morality  according  to  Christian  standards; 
the  death  of  Abimelech,  which  was  half  suicidal  lest  it  should  be  said 
that  a  woman's  hand  had  slain  him;  these,  and  more  also  of  the  same 
sort,  leave  the  impression  on  the  mind  that  those  "colonial  days"  of 
the  Hebrew  nation  were  far  from  days  of  peace  or  of  high  morality; 


^e  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

and  the  record  of  them  is  certainly  as  unfit  for  the  minds  of  children 
and  of  youth  as  aie  the  illustrated  and  graphic  accounts  of  many  un- 
holy acts  which  are  to  found  in  our  daily  newspapers. 

General  Weyler,  in  his  Cuban  warfare,  has,  in  many  respects,  a 
prototype  in  General  Gideon,  and  also  in  General  Jephthah,  "a 
mighty  man  of  valor"  and  "the  son  of  a  harlot,"  as  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  declares  him  to  have  been.  We  deprecate  the  savage 
butchery  of  the  one — what  ought  we  to  say  of  the  renown  of  the 
others?  War  is  everywhere  terrible,  and  "deeds  of  violence  and  of 
blood"  are  sad  reminders  of  the  imperfections  of  mankind.  The 
men  of  those  "colonial  days"  were  far  from  being  patterns  of  excel- 
lence; and  the  women  "matched  the  men,"  in  most  instances.  De- 
iiorah,  as  a  "mother  in  Israel,"  won  deserved  renown,  so  that  her 
song  of  victory  is  even  now  rehearsed,  but  it  is  a  query  that  can  have 
but  one  answer,  whether  her  anthem  of  triumph  is  not  a  musical  re- 
hearsal of  treacherous  and  warlike  deeds,  unworthy  of  a  woman's 
praise? 

In  the  Book  of  Judges  Delilah  appears,  and  if  the  mother  of  her 
strong  lover,  Samson,  was  not  a  perfect  woman,  in  the  modern 
sense,  she  has  helped  to  make  some  readers  feel  that  the  law  of 
heredity  is  a  revealer  of  secrets,  and  that  the  story  of  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  may  be  received  with  due  caution.  The  name  "Delilah" 
has  become  a  synonym  for  a  woman  tempting  to  sin,  and  the  moral 
weakness  and  physical  strength  of  Samson  show  the  power  of  hered- 
ity. But  whether  the  stories  should  be  in  the  hands  of  our  youth, 
without  sufificient  explanation  and  wise  commentaries,  is  a  question 
which  coming  days  will  solve  to  the  extent  of  a  wise  elimination. 
Solemn  lessons,  and  those  of  moral  import,  are  given  in  the  Book 
of  Judges ;  yet,  as  a  whole,  the  book  does  not  leave  one  with  an  ex- 
alted opinion  of  either  the  men  or  the  women  of  those  days.  But  it 
certainly  gives  no  evidence  that  in  shrewdness,  in  a  wise  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends,  in  a  persistent  effort  after  desired  objects,  in  a 
successful  accomplishment  of  plans  and  purposes,  the  women  were 
the  inferiors  of  the  men  in  that  age.  They  appear  to  have  been  their 
equals,  and  occasionally  their  superiors.  P.  A.  H. 


THE  BOOK  OF  RUTH. 


Ruth  i. 

t  Now  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  when 
the  Judges  ruled,  that  there  was  a  famine 
in  the  land.  And  a  certain  man  of  Beth- 
lehem-judah  went  to  sojourn  in  the  coun- 
try of  Moab,  he,  and  his  wife,  and  his  two 
sons. 

2  And  the  name  of  the  man  was  Elim- 
elech,  and  the  name  of  his  wife  Naomi,  and 
the  name  of  his  two  sons  Mahlon  and 
Chilion.  And  they  came  into  the  country 
of  Moab,  and  continued  there. 

3  And  Elimelech,  Naomi's  husband,  died; 
and  she  was  left,  and  her  two  sons. 

4  And  they  took  them  wives  of  the  wo- 
men of  Moab;  the  name  of  the  one  was 
Orpah,  and  the  name  of  the  other  Ruth: 
and  they  dwelt  there  about  ten  years. 

5  And  Mahlon  and  Chilion  died  also 
both  of  them ;  and  the  woman  was  left  of 
her  two  sons  and  her  husband. 

6  Then  she  arose  with  her  daughters  in 
law,  that  she  might  return  from  the  country 
of  Moab ;  for  she  had  heard  in  the  country 
of  Moab  how  that  the  Lord  had  visited  his 
people  in  giving  them  bread. 

7  Wherefore  she  went  forth  out  of  the 
place  where  she  was,  and  her  two  daughters 
in  law  with  her. 

8  And  Naomi  said  imto  her  daughters  in 
law,  Go,  return  each  to  her  mother's  house; 


The  Lord  deal  kindly  with  you,  as  ye  have 
dealt  with  the  dead,  and  with  me. 

10  And  they  said  unto  her,  Surely  we  will 
return  with  thee  unto  thy  people. 

14  And  they  lifted  up  their  voice,  and 
wept:  and  Orpah  kissed  her  mother  in  law; 
but  Ruth  clave  to  her. 

15  And  she  said,  Behold,  thy  sister  in  law 
is  gone  back  unto  her  people,  and  unto  her 
gods:  return  thou  after  thy  sister  in  law. 

16  And  Ruth  said.  Entreat  me  not  to  leave 
thee:  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go;  and 
where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge:  thy  people 
shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God: 

19  So  they  two  went  until  they  came  to 
Beth-lehem.  And  it  came  to  pass,  wher^ 
they  were  come  to  Beth-lehem,  that  all  the 
city  was  moved  about  them,  and  they  said. 
Is  this  Naomi? 

20  And  she  said  unto  them.  Call  me  not 
Naomi,  call  me  Mara:  for  the  Almighty 
hath  dealt  very  bitterly  with  me. 

21  I  went  out  fu'i,  and  the  Lord  hath 
brought  me  home  again  empty:  why  then 
call  ye  me  Naomi,  seeing  the  Lord  hath 
testified  against  me,  and  the  Almighty  hath 
afflicted  me. 

22  So  Naomi  returned,  and  Ruth  the 
Moabitess,  her  daughter  in  law,  with  her. 


COMMENTATORS  differ  as  to  the  exact  period  when  this  book 
was  written  and  as  to  the  Judge  who  ruled  Israel  at  that  time. 
It  must  have  been,  however,  in  the  beginning  of  the  days  when 
the  Judges  ruled,  as  Boaz,  who  married  Ruth,  was  the  son  of  Rahab, 
who  protected  the  spies  in  Joshua's  reign.  Some  say  that  it  was  in  the 
reign  of  Deborah,  Tradition  says  that  the  Messiah  was  descended! 
from  two  Gentile  maidens,  Rahab  and  Ruth,  and  that  Ruth  was  the 

37 


38  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

daughter  of  Eglon,  King  of  Moab ;  but  this  is  denied,  as  Boaz,  whom 
Ruth  married,  judged  Israel  two  hundred  years  after  Eglon's  death. 
However  widely  the  authorities  differ  as  to  Ruth's  genealogical  tree, 
they  all  agree  that  s^he  was  a  remarkably  sincere,  refined,  discreet 
maiden,  a  loving  daughter  and  an  honored  wife. 

Elimelech,  the  husband  of  Naomi,  is  severely  criticised  by  Bibli- 
cal writers  for  leaving  his  people  and  his  country  when  in  distress 
and  seeking  his  fortune  among  the  heathen  Moabites,  thus  leading 
his  sons  into  the  temptation  of  taking  strange  wives.  They  say  that 
the  speedy  deaths  of  the  father  and  the  sons  were  a  proof  of  God's 
disapprobation.  Naomi  manifested  such  remarkable  goodness  and 
wisdom  as  a  widow,  that  one  wonders  that  she  did  not  use  her  in- 
fluence to  keep  her  husband  in  his  native  land  to  share  the  trials  of 
his  neighbors. 

The  tender  friendship  between  Ruth  and  Naomi,  so  unusual  with 
a  mother-in-law,  has  been  celebrated  in  poetry,  in  prose  and  in  art 
the  world  round.  The  scene  between  Naomi  and  her  daughters  in 
parting  was  most  affectionate.  As  soon  as  Naomi  decided  to  return 
to  her  own  country,  her  daughters  assisted  her  in  making  the  neces- 
sary preparations.  Ruth  secretly  made  her  own,  having  decided  to 
go  with  Naomi  to  the  land  of  Judea. 

When  the  appointed  day  arrived,  mounted  on  three  gray  jack- 
asses, they  departed.  A  few  miles  out  Naomi  proposed  to  rest  by 
the  roadside  and  to  say  farewell,  and,  after  thanking  them  for  all  the 
love  and  kindness  they  had  shown  her,  advised  them  to  go  no  farther, 
but  return  to  their  home  in  that  land  of  plenty.  She  told  them 
frankly  that  she  had  no  home  luxuries  to  ofifer,  life  with  her  would 
for  them  be  poverty  and  privation  in  a  strange  land,  and  she  was 
not  willing  that  they  should  sacrifice  all  the  pleasures  of  their  young 
lives  for  her.  Sad  and  lonely  with  the  loss  of  their  husbands,  parting 
with  Naomi  seemed  to  intensify  their  grief.  United  in  a  common 
sorrow,  the  three  women  stood  gazing  in  silence  into  each  other's 
faces,  until  Naomi,  with  her  usual  self-control  and  common  sense, 
again  pointed  out  to  them  all  the  hardships  involved  in  the  change 
which  they  proposed. 

Her  words  made  a  deep  impression  on  Orpah.     She  hesitated, 


COMMENTS  ON  RUTH.  39 

and  at  last  decided  to  abide  by  Naomi's  advice;  but  not  so  with  Ruth. 
Naomi  had  a  pecuHar  magnetic  attraction  for  her,  a  charm  stronger 
than  kindred,  country  or  ease.  Her  expressions  of  steadfast  friend- 
ship in  making  her  decision  were  so  tender  and  sincere  that  they 
have  become  household  words.  She  said:  "Entreat  me  not  to  leave 
thee;  for  whither  thou  goest  I  will  go,  and  where  thou  lodgest  I  will 
lodge;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God;  where 
thou  diest  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried.  The  Lord  do  so  to 
me,  and  more  also,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee  and  me."  (These 
words  are  on  a  bronze  tablet  on  the  stone  over  the  grave  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  at  Samoa.) 

Having  bade  farewell  to  Orpah,  they  journeyed  together  and 
made  a  home  for  themselves  in  Bethlehem.  Naomi  owned  a  small 
house,  lot  and  spring  of  water  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  After 
a  few  days  of  rest,  Ruth  said  to  Naomi,  I  must  not  sit  here  with 
folded  hands,  nor  spend  my  time  in  visiting  neighbors,  nor  in  search 
of  amusement,  but  I  must  go  forth  to  work,  to  provide  food  and 
clothes,  and  leave  thee  to  rest.  As  it  was  the  season  for  the  wheat 
and  barley  harvests,  Ruth  heard  that  laborers  were  needed  in  the 
fields.  It  was  evident  that  Ruth  believed  in  the  dignity  of  labor  and 
of  self-support.  She  thought,  no  doubt,  that  every  one  with  a  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body  and  two  hands  should  earn  her  own  liveli- 
hood. She  threw  her  whole  soul  into  her  work  and  proved  a  blessing 
to  her  mother.  So  Naomi  consented  that  she  might  go  and  glean 
in  the  fields  with  other  maidens  engaged  in  that  work. 

When  Naomi  was  settled  in  Bethlehem  she  remembered  that  she 
had  a  rich  kinsman,  Boaz,  whose  name  means  strength,  a  man  of 
great  wealth  as  well  as  wisdom.  Ruth  was  employed  in  the  field  of 
Boaz;  and  in  due  time  he  took  note  of  the  fair  maiden  from  Moab. 
In  harvest  time  he  needed  many  extra  hands,  and  he  came  often 
among  the  reapers  to  see  how  the  work  went  forward.  He  heard 
such  good  accounts  of  Ruth's  industry,  dignity  and  discretion  that 
he  ordered  his  men  to  make  her  work  as  easy  as  possible,  to  leave 
plenty  for  her  to  glean  and  to  carry  home  in  the  evening.  This  she 
often  sold  on  the  way,  and  bought  something  which  Naomi  needed. 

Naomi  and  Ruth  enjoyed  their  evenings  together.     Naomi  did 


40 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


not  spend  the  day  in  idleness  either.  She  had  her  spinning-wheel 
and  loom  to  make  their  garments;  she  worked  also  in  her  garden, 
raising  vegetables,  herbs  and  chickens;  and  they  talked  over  their 
day's  labor  as  they  enjoyed  their  simple  supper  of  herb  tea,  bread  and 
watercresses.  Their  menu  was  oft  times  more  tempting,  thanks  to 
Ruth's  generous  purchases  on  her  way  home.  Being  busy,  prac- 
tical women,  their  talk  during  the  evening  was  chiefly  on  "ways  and 
means;"  they  seldom  rose  to  the  higher  themes  of  pedagogics  and 
psychology,  subjects  so  familiar  in  the  clubs  of  American  women. 

E.  C.  S. 


Ruth  ii. 

1  And  Naomi  had  a  kinsman  of  her  hus- 
band's, a  mighty  man  of  wealth,  of  the  fam- 
ily of  Elimelech;  and  his  name  was  Boaz. 

2  And  Ruth  the  Moabitess  said  unto  Nao- 
mi, Let  me  now  go  to  the  field,  and  glean 
cars  of  corn  after  him  in  whose  sight  I  shall 
find  grace.  And  she  said  unto  her,  Go,  my 
daughter. 

4  And,  behold,  Boaz  came  from  Bethle- 
hem   .    .    . 

7  And  she  said,  I  pray  you,  let  me  glean 
and  gather  after  the  reapers  among  the 
sheaves:    so  she  came. 

8  Then    said    Boaz    unto    Ruth,    Hearest 


thou  not,  my  daughter?  Go  not  to  glean  in 
another  field,  neither  go  from  hence,  hut 
abide  here  fast  by  my  maidens:  .... 
It  hath  fully  been  shewed  me,  all  that  thou 
hast  done  unto  thy  mother-in-law  since  the 
death  of  thine  husband;  and  how  thou  hast 
left  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

ip  And  her  mother-in-law  said  vmto  her. 
Where  hast  thou  gleaned  to-day?  and  where 
wroughtest  thou?  blessed  be  he  that  did 
take  knowledge  of  thee.  .  .  .  And  Ruth 
said,  the  man's  name  is  Boaz.  .  .  .  And 
Naomi  said  unto  her.  The  man  is  near  of 
kin  unto  ns,  one  of  our  next  kinsmen. 


It  was  a  custom  among  the  Israelites,  in  order  to  preserve  their 
own  line,  that  the  nearest  kinsman  should  marry  the  young  widow 
on  whom  their  hopes  depended.  So  when  Naomi  remembered  that 
Boaz  was  her  kinsman,  and  that  as  age  made  marriage  with  her  un- 
desirable, Ruth  would  be  the  proper  person  to  fill  her  place.  With 
great  tact  on  their  part  Naomi's  wishes  were  accomplished. 

Boaz  was  the  son  of  Salmon  and  Rahab,  and  according  to  the 
Chaldee  was  not  only  a  mighty  man  in  wealth  but  also  in  wisdom,  a 
most  rare  and  excellent  conjunction.  Boaz  was  of  the  family  of 
Elimelech,  of  which  Ruth,  by  marriage,  was  a  part  also.  Moreover, 
as  she  had  adopted  the  country  of  Naomi  and  was  a  proselyte  to  her 
faith,  her  marriage  with  Boaz  Vv^as  in  accordance  with  Jewish  custom. 
Naomi  was  told  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  says  the  Chaldee,  that  from 


COMMENTS  ON  RUTH. 


41 


her  line  should  descend  six  of  the  most  righteous  men  of  the  age, 
namely,  David,  Daniel,  his  three  compeers  and  the  King  Messiah. 

Commentators  say  that  Boaz  was  probably  himself  one  of  the 
elders,  or  the  aldermen,  of  the  city,  and  that  he  went  up  to  the  gates 
as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  a  common  person.  They  say 
that  Ruth  was  neither  rich  nor  beautiful,  but  a  poor  stranger,  "whose 
hard  work  in  the  fields"  had  withered  her  "lilies  and  roses."  But 
Boaz  had  heard  her  virtue  and  dignity  extolled  by  all  who  knew  her. 
The  Chaldee  says,  "house  and  riches  are  the  inheritance  from  fathers; 
but  a  prudent  wife  is  more  valuable  than  rubies  and  is  a  special  gift 
from  heaven."  Boaz  prized  Ruth  for  her  virtues,  for  her  great 
moral  qualities  of  head  and  heart.  He  did  not  say  like  Samson, 
when  his  parents  objected  to  his  choice,  "her  face  pleaseth  me." 

In  narrating  the  story  of  Ruth  and  Naomi  to  children  they  in- 
variably ask  questions  of  interest,  to  which  the  sacred  fabulist  gives 
no  answer.  They  always  ask  if  Ruth  and  Naomi  had  no  pets  when 
living  alone,  before  Obed  made  his  appearance.  If  the  modern 
historian  may  be  allowed  to  wander  occasionally  outside  of  the  re- 
ceived text,  it  may  be  said  undoubtedly  that  they  had  pets,  as  there 
is  nothing  said  of  cats  and  dogs  and  parrots,  but  frequent  mention 
of  doves,  kids  and  lambs,  we  may  infer  that  in  these  gentle  innocents 
they  found  their  pets.  No  doubt  Providence  softened  their  solitude 
by  providing  them  with  something  on  which  to  expend  their  mother 
love. 


Ruth  iv. 

1  Then  went  Boaz  up  to  the  gate,  and  sat 
him  down  there;  and,  behold,  the  kinsman 
of  whom  Boaz  spake  came  by;  unto  whom 
he  said.  Ho,  such  a  one!  turn  aside,  sit 
down  here.  And  he  turned  aside,  and  sat 
down. 

2  And  he  took  ten  men  of  the  elders  of 
the  city,  and  said,  Sit  ye  down  here. 

3  And  he  said  unto  the  kinsman,  Naomi, 
that  is  come  again  out  of  the  country  of 
Moab,  selleth  a  parcel  of  land,  which  was 
our  brother  Elimelech's: 

4  And  I  thought  to  advertise  thee,  saying. 
Buy  it  before  the  inhabitants,  and  before 
the  elders  of  my  people.     If  thou  wilt  re- 


deem it,  redeem  it;  but  if  thou  wilt  not  re- 
deem it,  then  tell  me,  that  I  may  know; 
for  there  is  none  to  redeem  it  beside  thee; 
and  I  am  after  thee.  And  he  said,  I  will 
redeem  it. 

5  Then  said  Boaz,  What  day  thou  buyest 
the  field  of  the  hand  of  Naomi,  thou  must 
buy  it  also  of  Ruth  the  Moabitess,  the  wife 
of  the  dead,  to  raise  up  the  name  of  the 
dead  upon  his  inheritance. 

6  And  the  kinsman  said,  I  cannot  redeem 
it  for  myself,  lest  I  mar  mine  own  inherit- 
ance; redeem  thou  my  right  to  thyself;  for 
I  cannot. 


Boaz  was  one  of  the  district  judges,  and  he  held  his  court  in  the 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


town  hall  over  the  gates  of  Bethlehem.  The  kinsman  who  was  sum- 
moned to  appear  there  and  to  settle  the  case  readily  agreed  to  the 
proposal  of  Boaz  to  fill  his  place,  as  he  was  already  married.  He 
Avas  willing  to  take  the  land;  but  as  the  widow  and  the  land  went  to- 
gether, according  to  the  Jewish  law  of  inheritance,  Boaz  was  in  a 
position  to  fill  the  legal  requirements;  and  as  he  loved  Ruth,  he  was 
happy  to  do  so.  Ruth  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  grave 
and  reverend  seigniors;  the  civil  pledges  were  made  and  the  legal 
documents  duly  signed.  The  reporter  is  silent  as  to  the  religious 
observances  and  the  marriage  festivities.  They  were  not  as  vigilant 
and  as  satisfying  as  are  the  skilled  reporters  of  our  day,  who  have 
the  imagination  to  weave  a  connected  story  and  to  give  to  us  all  the 
hidden  facts  which  we  desire  to  know.  Our  reporters  would  have 
told  us  how,  when  and  where  Ruth  was  married,  what  kind  of  a  house 
Boaz  had,  how  Ruth  was  dressed,  etc.,  etc.,  whereas  we  are  left  in 
doubt  on  all  of  these  points. 

The  historian  does  vouchsafe  to  give  to  us  further  information 
on  the  general  feeling  of  the  people.  They  all  joined  in  the  prayer 
of  the  elders  that  the  Lord  would  "make  the  woman  that  is  come 
into  thine  house  like  Rachel  and  like  Leah,  which  two  did  build  the 
house  of  Israel;"  they  prayed  for  Boaz  that  he  might  be  more  fa- 
mous and  powerful;  they  prayed  for  the  wife  that  she  might  be  a 
blessing  in  the  house,  and  the  husband  in  the  public  business  of  the 
town;  that  all  of  their  children  might  be  faithful  in  the  church,  and 
their  descendants  be  as  numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  sea. 

In  due  time  one  prayer  was  answered,  and  Ruth  bore  a  son. 
Naomi  loved  the  child  and  shared  in  its  care.  But  Ruth  said:  "The 
love  of  Naomi  is  more  to  me  than  that  of  seven  sons  could  be." 
Naomi  was  a  part  of  Ruth's  household  to  the  day  of  her  death  and 
shared  all  of  her  luxuries  and  her  happiness. 

The  child's  name  was  Obed,  the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of 
David.  The  name  Obed  signifies  one  who  serves.  The  motto  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  is  {ich  dien)  "1  serve."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
Obed  was  more  profoundly  interested  in  the  problems  of  industrial 
economics  than  the  Prince  seems  to  be,  and  that  he  spent  a  more 
useful  and  practical  life.    If  the  Bethlehem  newspapers  had  been  as 


COMMENTS  ON  RUTH.  43 

enterprising  as  our  journals  they  would  have  given  us  some  pictorial 
representations  of  Obed  on  Naomi's  lap,  or  at  the  baptismal  font,  or 
in  the  arms  of  Boaz,  who,  like  Napoleon,  stood  contemplating  in  si- 
lence his  firstborn. 

Some  fastidious  readers  object  to  the  general  tenor  of  Ruth's 
courtship.  But  as  her  manners  conformed  to  the  customs  of  the 
times,  and  as  she  followed  Naomi's  instructions  implicitly,  it  is  fair 
to  assume  that  Ruth's  conduct  was  irreproachable.  E.  C.  S. 


BOOKS  OF  SAMUEL. 


Chapter  I. 


/.  Samuel  i. 

1  Now  there  was  a  certain  man  of  Ra- 
tnathaim-zophim,  of  mount  Ephraira,  and 
his  name  was  Elkanah. 

2  And  he  had  two  wives;  the  name  of  the 
one  was  Hannah,  and  the  name  of  the  other 
Peninnah ;  and  Peninnali  had  children,  but 
Hannah  had  no  children. 

3  And  this  man  went  up  out  of  his  city- 
yearly  to  worship  and  to  sacrifice  unto  the 
Lord  of  hosts  in  Shiloh. 

4  And  when  the  time  was  that  Elkanah 
offered,  he  gave  to  Peninnah  his  wife,  and 
to  all  her  sons  and  her  daughters,  portions: 

5  But  unto  Hannah  he  gave  a  worthy 
portion;  for  he  loved  Hannah;  but  Penin- 
nah mocked  her. 

7  And  as  he  did  so  year  by  year,  when 
she  went " up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord; 
so  she  provoked  her,  therefore  she  wept, 
and  did  not  eat. 

8  Then  said  Elkanah  her  husband  to  her, 
Hannah,  why  weepest  thou?  and  why  eatest 
thou  not?  and  why  is  thy  heart  grieved? 
am   not   1   better  to  thee  than  ten  sons? 


Now  Eli  the  priest  sat  upon  a  seat  by  a 
post  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord. 

10  And  she  was  in  bitterness  of  soul,  and 
prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  wept  sore. 

11  And  she  vowed  a  vow,  and  said,  O 
Lord  of  hosts,  if  thou  wilt  indeed  look  on 
the  affliction  of  thine  handmaid,  and  wilt 
give  unto  me  a  man  child,  then  I  will  give 
him  unto  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  his  life. 

ly  Then  Eli  answered  and  said.  Go  in 
peace;  and  the  God  of  Israel  grant  thee  thy 
petition  that  thou  hast  asked  of  him.  And 
she  bare  a  son,  and  called  his  name  Samuel, 
saying.  Because  I  have  asked  him  of  the 
Lord. 

26  And  she  said,  O  my  lord,  as  thy  soul 
liveth,  I  am  the  woman  that  stood  by  thee 
here,  praying  unto  the  Lord. 

27  For  this  child  I  prayed;  and  the  Lord 
hath  given  me  my  petition  which  I  asked  of 
him. 

28  Therefore  also  I  have  lent  him  to  the 
Lord,  as  long  as  he  liveth. 


THESE  books  contain  the  history  of  the  last  two  of  the  judges 
of  Israel.  Eli  and  Samuel  were  not  as  the  rest,  men  of  war, 
but  priests.  It  is  uncertain  who  wrote  these  books.  Some 
say  that  Samuel  wrote  the  history  of  his  times,  and  that  Nathan  the 
Prophet  continued  it.  Elkanah,  though  a  godly  man,  had  sore 
family  trials,  the  result  of  having  m.arried  two  wives,  just  as  Abra- 
ham and  Jacob  did  before  him.  It  is  probable  that  Elkanah  mar- 
ried Hannah  from  pure  love;  but  she  had  no  children,  and  as  at  that 
time  every  man  had  great  pride  in  building  up  a  family,  he  married 
Peninnah,  who  bare  him  children,  but  in  other  respects  was  a  con- 
stant vexation. 

44 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL.  45 

Peninnah  was  haughty  and  insolent  because  she  had  children, 
while  Hannah  was  melancholy  and  discontented  because  she  had 
none,  hence  Elkanah  had  no  pleasure  in  his  daily  life  with  either. 
He  had  a  difficult  part  to  act.  Hoping  much  from  the  consolations 
of  religion,  he  took  his  wives  and  children  annually  up  to  the  temple 
of  the  Lord  in  Shiloh  to  worship.  Being  of  a  devout  spiritual  na- 
ture, he  thought  that  worshiping  at  the  same  altar  must  produce 
greater  harmony  between  his  wives.  But  Penninah  became  more 
peevish  and  provoking,  and  Hannah  more  silent  and  sorrowful, 
weeping  most  of  the  time.  Elkanah's  love  and  patience  with  Han- 
nah was  beautiful  to  behold.  Pie  paid  her  every  possible  attention 
and  gave  her  valuable  gifts. 

Appreciating  his  own  feelings,  he  said  to  her  one  day  in  an  exu- 
berant burst  of  devotion,  "Am  I  not  more  to  thee  than  ten  sons?" 
He  made  peace  offerings  to  the  Lord,  gave  Hannah  the  choice  bits 
at  the  table,  but  all  his  delicate  attentions  made  Hannah  more  melan- 
choly and  Peninnah  more  rebellious.  He  and  Hannah  continued  to 
pray  earnestly  to  the  Lord  to  remove  her  reproach,  and  their  prayers 
were  at  last  answered. 

Eli  was  presiding  at  the  temple  one  day  when  he  noticed  Hannah 
in  a  remote  corner  wrestling  in  prayer  with  the  Lord.  Though  her 
manner  was  intense,  and  her  lips  moved,  he  heard  no  sound,  and  in- 
ferred that  she  was  intoxicated.  Hannah,  hearing  of  his  suspicion, 
said  that  naught  but  the  debauchery  of  his  own  sons  could  have  made 
such  a  suspicion  possible.  But  Eli  made  atonement  for  his  rash,  un- 
friendly censure  by  a  kind  of  fatherly  benediction.  With  all  these 
adverse  winds  in  this  visit  to  Shiloh,  Elkanah  must  have  felt  as  if  his 
family  had  been  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  evil.  When  the  sons  of 
God  come  "to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord,  Satan  will  be  seen 
to  come  also."  Peninnah  behaved  worse  during  these  religious  fes- 
tivities because  she  saw  more  of  Elkanah's  devotion  to  Hannah. 
Hannah  became  more  sad  because  she  was  losing  faith  in  prayer. 
"Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick." 

An  endless  discord  in  the  harmony  of  the  family  joys  was  a 
puzzling  problem  for  the  sweet  tempered  Elkanah.  But  the  ever- 
turning  wheel  of  fortune  brought  peace  and  prosperity  to  his  do- 


46 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


mestic  altar  at  last.  Hannah  bore  a  son  and  named  him  Samuel, 
which  signifies  "heard  of  the  Lord/'  or  given  by  the  Lord.  Hannah 
was  very  modest  in  her  petition;  she  said,  "O  Lord,  give  me  a  son," 
while  Rachel  said,  "give  me  children." 

The  one  sorrow  which  overtopped  all  others  with  these  Bible 
women  was  in  regard  to  children.  If  they  had  none,  they  made 
everybody  miserable.  If  they  had  children,  they  fanned  the  jealous- 
ies of  one  for  the  other.  See  how  Rebekah  deceived  Isaac  and  de- 
frauded Esau  of  his  birthright.  The  men,  instead  of  appealing  to  the 
common  sense  of  the  women,  join  in  constant  prayer  for  the  Lord  to 
do  what  was  sometimes  impossible. 

Hannah  in  due  time  took  Samuel  up  to  the  temple  at  Shiloh.  In 
presenting  Samuel  to  Eli  the  priest  she  reminded  him  that  she  was 
the  woman  on  whom  he  passed  the  severe  comment;  but  now  she 
came  to  present  the  child  the  Lord  had  given  to  her.  She  offered 
three  bullocks,  one  for  each  year  of  his  life,  one  for  a  burnt  offering, 
one  for  a  sin  offering  and  one  for  a  peace  offering.  So  Hannah 
dedicated  him  wholly  to  the  Lord  and  left  him  in  Shiloh  to  be  edu- 
cated with  the  sons  of  the  priests.  Although  Samuel  was  Hannah's 
only  child  and  dearly  loved,  she  did  not  hesitate  to  keep  her  vow  unto 
the  Lord. 


I  Samuel  it. 

II  And  Elkanah  went  to  Ramah  to  his 
house.  And  the  child  did  minister  unto 
the  Lord  before  Eli  the  priest. 

i8  But  Samuel  ministered  before  the 
Lord,  being  a  child,  girded  with  a  linen 
ephod. 

19  Moreover  his  mother  made  him  a  lit- 
tle coat,  and  brought  it  to  him  from  year 


to  year,  when  she  came  up  with  her  hus- 
band to  offer  the  yearly  sacrifice. 

20  And  Eli  blessed  Elkanah  and  his  wife. 
And  they  went  unto  their  own  home. 

21  And  Hannah  bare  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  And  the  child  Samuel  grew 
before  the  Lord. 


The  historians  and  commentators  dwell  on  the  fact  that  Hannah 
made  her  son  "a  little  coat,"  and  brought  one  annually.  It  is  more 
probable  that  she  brought  to  him  a  complete  suit  of  clothes  once  in 
three  months,  especially  trousers,  if  those  destined  to  service  in  the 
temple  were  allowed  to  join  in  any  sports.  Even  devotional  genu- 
flections are  severe  on  that  garment,  which  must  have  often  needed 
Hannah's  care.  Her  virtue  and  wisdom  as  a  mother  were  in  due 
time  rewarded  by  five  other  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL. 


47 


And  Samuel  judged  Israel  all  the  days  of  his  life.  Saul  was  made 
king  at  the  request  of  the  people.  The  ark  of  the  Lord  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Philistines.  This  event,  with  the  death  of  Eli  and  his 
sons,  had  most  tragic  results,  viz.,  in  the  killing  of  thirty  thousand 
people  and  the  death  of  the  wife  of  Phinehas,  who  was  said  to  have 
been  a  woman  of  gracious  spirit,  though  the  wife  of  a  wicked  hus- 
band. Her  grief  for  the  death  of  her  husband  and  father-in-law 
proved  her  strong  natural  affection,  but  her  much  greater  concern 
for  the  loss  of  the  ark  of  the  Lord  was  an  evidence  of  her  devout  af- 
fection to  God.  Her  dying  words,  "the  glory  has  departed  from 
Israel,"  show  that  her  last  thought  was  of  her  religion.  She  named 
her  son  Ichabod,  whose  premature  birth  was  the  result  of  many 
calamities,  both  public  and  private,  crowning  all  with  the  great  bat- 
tle with  the  Philistines.  Samuel  was  the  last  judge  of  Israel.  As 
the  people  clamored  for  a  king,  Saul  was  chosen  to  rule  over  them. 
The  women  joined  in  the  festivities  of  the  occasion  with  music  and 
dancing. 


I  Samuel  xviii. 

6  And  it  came  to  pass  when  David  was 
returned  irom  the  slaughter  of  the  Philis- 
tines that  the  women  came  out  of  all  the 
cities  of  Israel,  singing  and  dancing,  to 
meet  King  Saul,  with  tabrets  and  instru- 
ments of  music. 

7  And  the  women  answered  one  another 
as  they  played,  and  said,   Saul  hath  slaia 


his    thousands,    and    David   his   ten    thou- 
sands. 

8  And  Saul  was  very  wroth,  and  the  say- 
ing displeased  him;  and  he  said,  They  have 
ascribed  unto  David  ten  thousands,  and  to 
me  they  have  ascribed  but  thousands ;  and 
what  can  he  have  more  than  the  kingdom? 


It  was  the  custom  among  women  to  celebrate  the  triumphs  of 
their  warriors  after  a  great  battle  in  spectacular  performances. 
Decked  with  wreaths,  they  danced  down  the  public  streets,  singing 
the  songs  of  victory  in  praise  of  their  great  leaders.  They  were 
specially  enthusiastic  over  David,  the  chorus,  "Saul  hath  killed  his 
thousands,  but  David  his  ten  thousands,"  chanted  with  pride  by 
beautiful  maidens  and  wise  matrons,  stirred  the  very  soul  of  Saul  to 
deadly  jealousy,  and  he  determined  to  suppress  David  in  some  way 
or  to  kill  him  outright.  It  is  not  probable  that  any  of  these  battle 
hymns,  so  much  admired,  emanated  from  the  brain  of  woman;  the 
blood  and  thunder  style  shows  clearly  that  they  were  all  written  by 


48 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


the  pen  of  a  warrior,  long  after  the  women  of  their  respective  tribes 
were  at  rest  in  Abraham's  bosom. 

David  was  a  general  favorite;  even  the  Philistines  admired  his 
courage  and  modesty.  The  killing  of  Goliath  impressed  the  people 
generally  that  David  was  the  chosen  of  the  Lord  to  succeed  Saul  as 
King  of  Israel. 

But  on  the  heels  of  his  triumphs  David's  troubles  soon  began. 
Saul  was  absorbed  in  plotting  and  in  planning  how  to  circumvent 
David,  and  looked  with  jealousy  on  the  warm  friendship  maturing 
between  him  and  his  son  Jonathan. 


17  And  Saul  said  to  David,  Behold  my 
elder  daughter  Merab;  her  will  I  give  thee 
to  wife:  only  be  thou  valiant  for  me,  and 
fight  the  Lord's  battles.  For  Saul  said,  Let 
not  mine  hand  be  upon  him,  but  let  the 
hand  of  the  Philistines  be  upon  him. 

18  And  David  said  unto  Saul,  Who  am  I? 
and  what  is  my  life,  or  my  father's  family 
in  Israel,  that  I  should  be  son-in-law  to 
the  king? 

19  But  it  came  to  pass  at  the  time  when 
Merab,  Saul's  daughter,  should  have  been 
given  to  David,  that  she  was  given  unto 
Adriel,  the  Meholathite,  to  wife. 

20  And  Michal,  Saul's  daughter,  loved 
David:  and  they  told  Saul,  and  the  thing 
pleased  him. 

21  And   Saul   said,   I   will   give   him  her, 


that  she  may  be  a  snare  to  him,  and  that 
the  hand  of  the  Philistines  may  be  against 
him.  Wherefore  Saul  said  to  David,  Thou 
shalt  this  day  be  my  son  in  law  in  the  one 
of  the  twain. 

22  And  Saul  commanded  his  servants, 
saying.  Commune  with  David  secretly,  and 
say,  Behold  the  king  hath  delight  in  thee, 
and  all  his  servants  love  thee:  now  there- 
fore be  the  king's  son-in-law. 

24  And  Saul's  servants  spake  those  worda 
in  the  ears  of  David.  And  David  said, 
Seemeth  it  to  you  a  light  thing  to  be  a 
king's  son-in-law,  seeing  that  I  am  a  poor 
man,  and  lightly  esteemed? 

25  And  Saul  saw  and  knew  that  the  Lord 
was  with  David,  and  that  Michal,  Saul's 
daughter,  loved  him. 


Saul  thought  if  he  could  get  David  to  marry  his  daughter  he 
would  make  her  a  snare  to  entrap  him.  He  promised  David  his 
daughter,  and  then  married  her  to  another  to  provoke  him  to  some 
act  of  violence,  that  he  might  have  an  excuse  for  whatever  he  chose 
to  do.  But  when  Saul  offered  to  give  him  Michal,  David  modestly 
replied  that  he  belonged  to  a  humble  shepherd  family  and  was  not 
worthy  to  be  the  son-in-law  of  a  king. 

In  due  time  David  did  marry  Miclial,  who  loved  him  and  proved 
a  blessing  rather  than  a  snare.  On  one  occasion  when  Saul  had 
made  secret  plans  to  capture  David,  Michal  with  her  diplomacy  saved 
him.  Saul  surrounded  his  house  with  guards  and  ordered  them  to 
kill  David  the  moment  he  appeared  in  the  morning.  Michal,  seeing 
their  preparations,  knew  their  significance,  and  at  night,  when  all 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL.  49 

was  still,  she  let  David  down  through  a  window  and  told  him  to  flee. 
In  the  morning,  as  David  did  not  appear,  they  searched  the  house. 
Michal  told  them  that  David  was  ill  and  in  bed.  She  had  covered 
the  head  of  a  wooden  image  with  goat's  hair  and  tucked  the  sup- 
posed David  up  snug  and  warm.  The  guards  would  not  wake  a 
sick  man  in  order  to  kill  him,  and  they  reported  what  they  saw  to 
Saul,  but  he  ordered  them  to  return  and  to  bring  David,  sick  or  well. 

When  Saul  found  that  he  had  escaped,  he  was  very  wroth  and  up- 
braided Michal  for  her  disrespect  to  him.  Though  she  had  saved 
tlie  man  she  loved,  yet  she  marred  her  noble  deed  by  saying  that 
David  would  have  killed  her  if  he  suspected  she  had  connived  with 
her  father  to  kill  him.  But  alas!  the  poor  woman  was  between  two 
fires — the  husband  whom  she  loved  on  one  side,  and  the  father  whom 
she  feared  on  the  other.  Most  of  the  women  in  the  Bible  seem  to 
have  been  in  a  quandary  the  chief  part  of  the  time. 

Saul  made  a  special  war  on  the  soothsayers  and  the  fortune- 
tellers, because  they  were  divining  evil  things  of  him.  But  losing 
faith  in  himself  and  embittered  Ijy  many  troubles,  he  went  to  the 
witch  of  Endor  to  take  counsel  with  Samuel,  hoping  to  find  more 
comfort  with  the  dead  than  with  the  living.  The  witch  recognized 
him  and  asked  him  why  he  came  to  her,  having  so  cruelly  perse- 
cuted her  craft.  However,  she  summoned  Samuel  at  his  request, 
who  told  him  that  on  the  morrow,  in  the  coming  battle  with  the 
Philistines,  he  and  his  sons  would  be  slain  by  the  enemy.  When 
the  witch  saw  Saul's  grief  and  consternation  she  begged  him  to  eat, 
placing  some  tempting  viands  before  him,  which  he  did,  and  then 
hastened  to  depart  while  it  was  yet  dark,  that  he  might  not  be  seen 
coming  from  such  a  house.  Commentators  say  it  was  not  Samuel 
who  appeared,  but  Satan  in  the  guise  of  the  prophet,  as  he  especially 
enjoys  all  psychical  mysteries.  Josephus  extols  the  witch  for  her 
courtesy,  and  Saul  for  his  courage  in  going  forth  to  the  battle  on  the 
next  day  to  meet  his  doom. 

The  poet  says  that  the  heart  from  love  to  one  grows  bountiful  to 
all.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  case  with  David  as  he  adds  wife  to 
wife,  Michal,  Ahinoam  the  Jezreelitess,  and  Abigail  the  Carmelitess. 
His  meeting  vvith  Abigail  in  the  hills  of  Carmel  was  quite  romantic. 


50  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

She  made  an  indelible  impression  on  his  heart,  and  as  soon  as  her 
husband  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  David  at  once  proposed  and  was 
accepted.  Though  the  women  who  attracted  David  were  "beauti- 
ful to  look  upon,"  yet  they  had  great  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  and 
he  seemed  equally  devoted  to  all  of  them.  When  carried  ofif  cap- 
tives in  war  he  made  haste  to  recapture  them.  Michal's  steadfast- 
ness seems  questionable  at  one  or  two  points  of  her  career,  but  the 
historian  does  not  let  us  into  the  secret  recesses  of  her  feelings. 

David's  time  and  thoughts  seem  to  have  been  equally  divided 
between  the  study  of  government  and  social  ethics,  and  he  does  not 
appear  very  wise  in  either.  His  honor  shines  brighter  in  his  psalms 
than  in  his  ordinary,  everyday  life.  E.  C.  S. 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL. 


SI 


Chapter  II. 


1  Samuel  xxv. 

2  And  there  was  a  man  in  Maon,  whose 
possessions  were  in  Carmel;  and  the  man 
was  very  great,  and  he  had  three  thousand 
sheep,  and  a  thousand  goats:  and  he  was 
shearing  his  sheep  in  Carmel. 

3  Now  the  name  of  the  man  was  Nabal, 
and  the  name  of  his  wife  Abigail;  and  she 
was  a  woman  of  good  understanding,  and 
of  a  beautiful  countenance:  but  the  man 
was  churlish  and  evil  in  his  doings. 

4  And  David  heard  in  the  wilderness 
that  Nabal  did  shear  his  sheep. 

5  And  David  sent  out  ten  young  men, 
and  David  said  unto  the  young  men.  Get 
you  up  to  Carmel,  and  go  to  Nabal,  and 
greet  him  in  my  name: 

6  And  thus  shall  ye  say  to  him  that  liveth 
in  prosperity,  Peace  be  both  to  thee,  and 
peace  be  to  thine  house,  and  peace  be  unto 
all  that  thou  hast. 

8  .  .  .  Give,  I  pray  thee,  whatsover 
Cometh  to  thine  hand  unto  thy  servants. 

10  And  Nabal  said,  Who  is  David?  and 
who  is  the  son  of  Jesse? 

11  Shall  I  then  take  my  bread,  and  my 
water,  and  my  flesh  that  I  have  killed  for 
my  shearers,  and  give  unto  men,  whom  I 
know  not  whence  they  be? 

12  So  David's  young  men  came  and  told 
him  all  these  sayings. 

13  And  David  said  unto  his  men,  Gird 
ye  on  every  man  his  sword ;  and  David  also 
girded  on  his  sword:  and  there  went  up 
after  David  about  four  hundred  men;  and 
two  hundred  abode  by  the  stuff. 


14  But  one  of  the  young  men  told  Abi- 
gail, Nabal's  wife,  saying.  Behold,  David 
sent  messengers  out  of  the  wilderness  to 
salute  our  master;  and  he  railed  on  them. 

18  Then  Abigail  made  haste,  and  too!: 
two  hundred  loaves,  and  two  bottles  of 
wine,  and  five  sheep  ready  dressed,  and  five 
measures  of  parched  corn,  and  a  hundred 
clusters  of  raisins,  and  two  hundred  case? 
of  figs,  and  laid  them  on  asses. 

23  And  when  Abigail  saw  David,  she 
hasted,  and  lighted  off  the  ass,  and  fell  be- 
fore David  on  her  face,  and  bowed  herself 
to  the  ground. 

25  Let  not  my  lord,  I  pray  thee,  regard 
this  man  of  Belial,  even  Nabal:  for  as  his 
name  is,  so  is  he;  Nabal  is  his  name,  and 
folly  is  with  him:  but  I  thine  handmaid 
saw  not  the  young  men  of  my  lord,  whom 
thou  didst  send. 

32  And  David  said  to  Abigail,  Blessed 
be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  which  sent  thee 
this  day  to  meet  me: 

35  So  David  received  of  her  hand  that 
which  she  had  brought  him,  and  said  uato 
her.  Go  up  in  peace  to  thine  house; 

38  And  it  came  to  pass  about  ten  days 
after,  that  the  Lord  smote  Nabal,  that  he 
died. 

39  .  .  .  And  David  sent  and  com- 
muned with  Abigail,  to  take  her  to  him  to 
wife. 

4J  And  Abigail  hasted,  and  arose,  and 
rode  upon  an  ass,  with  five  damsels  of  hers 
that  went  after  her;  and  she  went  after  the 
messengers  of  David,  and  became  his  wife. 


THE  chief  business  of  the  women  in  the  reigns  of  Kings  Saul  and 
David  seems  to  have  been  to  rescue  men  from  the  craft  and  the 
greed  of  each  other.  The  whole  interest  in  this  story  of  Nabal 
centres  in  the  tact  of  Abigail  in  saving  their  lives  and  possessions 
from  threatened  destruction,  owing  to  the  folly  and  the  ignorance  of 
her  husband.  His  name,  Nabal,  signifying  folly,  describes  his  char- 
acter. 


52  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

It  <s  a  wonder  that  his  parents  should  have  given  to  him  such  a 
name,  and  a  greater  wonder  that  Abigail  should  have  married  him. 
He  inherited  Caleb's  estate;  but  he  was  far  from  inheriting  his  vir^ 
tues.  His  wealth  was  great;  but  he  was  a  selfish,  snarling  cynic. 
Abigail's  name  signifies  "the  joy  of  her  father;"  but  he  could  not 
have  promised  himself  much  joy  in  her,  caring  more  for  the  wealth 
than  for  the  wisdom  of  her  husband.  Many  a  child  is  thus  thrown 
away — married  to  worldly  wealth  and  to  nothing  else  which  is  de- 
sirable. Wisdom  is  good  with  an  inheritance;  but  an  inheritance 
without  wisdom  is  good  for  nothing.  Many  an  Abigail  is  tied  to  a 
Nabal ;  but  even  if  they  have  her  understanding  they  will  find  it  hard 
enough  to  fill  such  a  relation. 

David  and  his  men  were  returning  from  Samuel's  funeral  through 
the  wilderness  of  Paran  and  were  in  sore  need  of  provisions,  and 
knowing  that  Nabal  had  immense  wealth,  and,  moreover,  that  it  was 
the  season  for  sheep  shearing,  David  thought  that  he  would  be  happy 
to  place  the  king  under  obligations  to  him,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
him  so  disloyal.  Abigail,  however,  appreciated  the  situation,  and 
by  her  courtesy  and  her  generosity  made  amends  for  the  rudeness 
of  her  husband.  She  did  not  stop  to  parley  with  him,  but  hastened 
to  meet  the  king  with  the  needed  provisions.  She  wasted  no  words 
of  excuse  for  Nabal,  but  spoke  of  him  with  marked  contempt.  Her 
conduct  would  have  shocked  the  Apostle  who  laid  such  stress  on  the 
motto,  "Wives,  obey  your  husbands."  "What  little  reason  we  have 
to  value  the  wealth  of  this  world,"  says  the  liistorian,  "when  such  a 
churl  as  Nabal  abounds  in  plenty,  while  such  a  saint  as  David  sufTers 
want." 

David  sent  to  him  most  gracious  messages;  but  he  replied  in  his 
usual  gruff  manner,  "Who  is  David,  that  I  should  share  with  him  my 
riches?  What  care  I  for  the  son  of  Jesse?"  The  serv^ant  did  not 
return  to  Nabal  with  David's  outburst  of  wrath  nor  his  resolution 
of  vengeance;  but  he  told  all  to  Abigail,  who  made  haste  to  avert 
the  threatened  danger.  She  did  what  she  saw  was  to  be  done, 
quickly.    Wisdom  in  such  a  case  was  better  than  weapons  of  war. 

Nabal  begrudged  the  king  and  his  retinue  water;  but  Abigail 
gave  them  two  casks  of  wine  and  all  sorts  of  provisions  in  abun- 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL. 


53 


dance.  She  met  David  on  the  march  big  with  resentment,  medi- 
tating the  destruction  of  Nabal.  But  Abigail  by  her  humility  com- 
pletely disarmed  the  king.  With  great  respect  and  complaisance 
she  urges  him  to  lay  all  of  the  blame  on  her;  and  to  attribute  Nabal's 
faults  to  his  want  of  wit,  born  simple,  not  spiteful.  Abigail  puts 
herself  in  the  attitude  of  a  humble  petitioner. 

David  received  all  that  Abigail  brought  him  with  many  thanks. 
It  is  evident  from  the  text  that  she  gave  to  him  many  of  the  delicacies 
from  her  larder.  Ten  days  after  this  Nabal  died.  David  immedi- 
ately sent  messengers  to  Abigail  asking  her  to  be  his  wife.  She 
readily  accepted,  as  David  had  made  a  deep  impression  on  her  heart. 
So,  with  her  five  damsels,  all  mounted  on  white  jackasses,  she  ac- 
companied the  messengers  to  the  king  and  became  his  wife. 

The  Hebrew  mythology  does  not  gild  the  season  of  courtship 
and  marriage  with  much  sentiment  or  romance.  The  transfer  of  a 
camel  or  a  donkey  from  one  owner  to  another,  no  doubt,  was  often 
marked  with  more  consideration  than  that  of  a  daughter.  One  loves 
a  faitliful  animal  long  in  our  possession  and  manifests  more  grief  in 
parting  than  did  these  Hebrew  fathers  in  giving  away  their  daugh- 
ters, or  than  the  daughters  did  in  leaving  their  family,  their  home  or 
their  country. 

We  have  no  beautiful  pictures  of  lovers  sitting  in  shady  groves, 
exchanging  their  tributes  of  love  and  of  friendship,  their  hopes  and 
fears  of  the  future;  no  temples  of  knowledge  where  philosophers  and 
learned  matrons  discussed  great  questions  of  human  destiny,  such 
as  Greek  mythology  gives  to  us;  Socrates  and  Plato,  learning  wis- 
dom at  the  feet  of  the  Diametias  of  their  times,  give  to  us  a  glimpse  of 
a  more  exalted  type  of  womanhood  than  any  which  the  sacred  fabu- 
lists have  vouchsafed  thus  far. 


2  Samuel  Hi. 

2  And  unto  David  were  sons  born  in 
Hebron:  and  his  firstborn  was  Amnon,  of 
Ahinoam  the  Jezreelitess: 

3  And  his  second,  Chileab,  of  Abigail 
the  wife  of  Nabal  the  Carmelite;  and  the 
third,  Absalom  the  son  of  Maacah  the 
daughter  of  Talmai  king  of  Geshur: 


4  And  the  fourth,  Adonijah  the  son  of 
Haggith;  and  the  fifth,  Shephatiah  the  son 
of  Abital; 

5  And  the  sixth,  Ithream,  by  Eg)dh  Da- 
vid's wife.  These  were  born  to  David  in 
Hebron. 


54 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


The  last  is  called  David's  wife,  his  only  rightful  wife^  Michal.  It 
was  a  fault  in  David,  say  the  commentators,  thus  to  multiply  wives 
contrary  to  Jewish  law.  It  was  a  bad  example  to  his  successors. 
Men  who  make  the  laws  should  not  be  the  first  to  disobey  them. 
None  of  his  sons  w^as  famous,  but  three  were  infamous,  due  in  part 
to  their  father's  nature  and  example. 


14  And  David  danced  before  the  Lord 
win  all  his  might;  and  David  was  girded 
with  a  linen  ephod. 

15  i)0  David  and  all  the  house  of  Isiael 
brought  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord  with  shout- 
ing, and  with  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 

16  And  as  the  ark  of  the  Lord  came  into 
the  city  of  David,  Michal  Saul's  daughter 
looked  through  a  window,  and  saw  king 
David  leaping  and  dancing  before  the 
Lord;  and  she  despised  him  in  her  heart. 


ao  Then  David  returned  to  bless  his 
household.  And  Michal  the  daughter  of 
Saul  came  out  to  meet  David,  and  said. 
How  glorious  was  the  king  of  Israel  to-day, 
who  uncovered  himself  in  the  eyes  of  his 
servants,  as  one  of  the  vain  fellows. 

21  And  David  said  unto  Michal,  It  was 
before  the  Lord,  which  chose  me  before  thy 
father. 


Michal,  like  Abigail,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  overburdened 
with  conjugal  respect.  She  was  so  impatient  to  let  the  king  know 
how  he  appeared  in  her  sight  that  she  could  not  wait  at  home,  but 
went  out  to  meet  him.  She  even  questions  the  wisdom  of  such  a 
parade  over  the  ark,  and  tells  the  king  that  it  would  have  been  better 
to  leave  it  where  it  had  been  hidden  for  years. 

Neither  Michal  nor  Abigail  seem  to  have  made  idols  of  their  hus- 
bands; they  did  not  even  consult  them  as  to  what  they  should  think, 
say  or  do.  They  furnish  a  good  example  to  wives  to  use  their  own 
judgment  and  to  keep  their  own  secrets,  not  make  the  family  altar  a 
constant  confessional. 


z  Samuel  xi. 

2  And  it  came  to  pass  in  an  eveningtide, 
that  David  arose  from  off  his  bed,  and 
walked  upon  the  roof  of  the  king's  house, 
and  saw  a  woman  washing  herself;  and  the 
woman  was  very  beautiful  to  look  upon. 

3  And  David  sent  and  inquired  after  her. 
And  one  said,  Is  not  this  Bath-she-ba,  the 
wife  of  Uriah  the  Hittite? 

4  And  David  sent  messengers,  and  took 
her;  and  she  came  in  unto  him. 

6  And  David  sent  to  Joab,  saying,  Send 
me  Uriah  the  Hittite.  And  Joab  sent 
Uriah  to  David. 

7  And  when  Uriah  was  come  unto  him. 


David  demanded  of  him  how  Joab  did,  and 
how  the  people  did,  and  how  the  war  pros- 
pered. 

9  And  Uriah  slept  at  the  door  of  the 
king's  house  with  all  the  servants  of  his 
lord,  and  went  not  down  to  his  house. 

14  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning, 
that  David  wrote  a  letter  to  Joab,  and  sent 
it  by  the   hand  of   Uriah. 

15  And  he  wrote  in  the  letter  saying,  Set 
ye  Uriah  in  the  forefront  of  the  hottest  bat- 
tle, and  retire  ye  from  him,  that  he  may  be 
smitten,  and  die. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Joab  ob- 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL. 


53 


served  the  city,  that  he  assigned  Uriah  un- 
to a  place  where  he  knew  that  valiant  men 
were. 

17  And  the  men  of  the  city  went  out,  and 
fought  with  Joab:  and  there  fell  some  of 
the  people  of  the  servants  of  David;  and 
friah  the  Hittite  died  also. 

26  And   when   the   wife   of   Uriah   heard 


that  her  husband  was  dead,   she   mourned 
for  her  husband. 

27  And  when  the  mourning  was  past, 
David  sent  and  fetched  her  to  his  house, 
and  she  became  his  wife,  and  bare  him  a 
son.  But  the  thing  that  David  had  done 
displeased  the  Lord. 


This  book  contains  but  little  in  regard  to  women.  What  is 
worthy  of  mention  in  the  story  of  Bath-sheba  is  finished  in  the  fol- 
lowing book.  David's  first  vision  of  her  is  such  a  reflection  on  his 
honor  that,  from  respect  to  the  "man  after  the  Lord's  own  heart,"  we 
pass  it  in  silence. 

David's  social  ethics  were  not  quite  up  to  the  standard  even  of 
his  own  times.  It  is  said  that  he  was  a  master  of  his  pen  as  well  as 
of  his  sword.  His  poem  on  the  death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  has  been 
much  praised  by  literary  critics.  But,  alas!  David  was  not  able  to 
hold  the  Divine  heights  which  he  occasionally  attained.  As  in  the 
case  of  Bath-sheba,  he  remained  where  he  could  see  her;  instead  of 
going  with  his  army  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  to  his  duties  as  King  of 
Israel  and  general  of  the  army,  he  delegated  them  to  others.  Had 
he  been  at  his  post  he  would  have  been  out  of  the  way  of  temptation. 
He  used  to  pray  three  times  a  day,  not  only  at  morning  and  evening, 
but  at  noon  also.  It  is  to  be  feared  than  on  this  day  he  forgot  his 
devotions  and  thought  only  of  Bath-sheba. 

Uriah,  the  husband  of  Bath-sheba,  was  one  of  David's  soldiers, 
a  man  of  strict  honor  and  virtue.  To  get  rid  of  him  for  a  season, 
David  sent  him  with  a  message  to  one  of  the  officers  at  Jerusalem, 
telling  him  that  in  the  next  battle  to  place  Uriah  in  the  front  rank 
that  he  might  distinguish  himself.  Uriah  was  a  poor  man  and  ten- 
derly loved  his  wife.  He  little  knew  the  fatal  contents  of  the  letter 
which  he  carried.  When  Joab  received  the  letter,  he  took  it  for 
granted  that  he  was  guilty  of  some  crime  and  that  the  king  wished 
him  to  be  punished.  So  Joab  obeyed  the  king  and  Uriah  was  killed. 
In  due  time  all  this  was  known,  and  filled  the  people  with  astonish- 
ment and  greatly  displeased  the  Lord. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  did  not  commune  with  God  during  this 
period  of  humiliation  or  pen  any  psalms  of  praise  for  His  goodness 


56 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


and  mercy.  He  married  Bath-sheba,  and  she  bore  him  a  son  and 
called  his  name  Solomon.  But  this  did  not  atone  for  his  sin.  "His 
heart  was  sad,  his  soul,"  says  a  commentator,  "was  like  a  tree  in 
winter  which  has  life  in  the  root  only." 


3  Samuel  xii. 

And  the  Lord  sent  Nathan  unto  David. 
And  he  came  unto  him,  and  said  unto  him: 
There  were  two  men  in  one  city;  the  one 
rich,  and  the  other  poor. 

2  The  rich  man  had  exceeding  many 
flocks  and  herds: 

3  But  the  poor  man  had  nothing,  save 
one  little  ewe  lamb,  which  he  had  bought 
and  nourished:  and  it  grew  up  together 
with  him,  and  with  his  children:  it  did  eat 
of  his  own  meat,  and  drank  of  his  own  cup, 
and  lay  in  his  bosom,  and  was  unto  him  as 
a  daughter. 

4  And  there  came  a  traveller  unto  the 
rich  man,  and  he  spared  to  take  of  his  own 
flock  and  of  his  own  herd,  to  dress  for  the 
w^ayfaring  man,  but  took  the  poor  man's 
lamb  and  dressed  it. 

5  And  David's  anger  was  greatly  kindled 


against  the  man;  and  he  said  to  Nathan, 
As  the  Lord  liveth,  the  man  that  hath  done 
this  thing  shall  surely  die: 

6  And  he  shall  restore  the  lamb  fourfold, 
because  he  did  this  thing. 

7  And  Nathan  said  to  David,  Thou  art 
the  man.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Is- 
rael, I  anointed  thee  king  over  Israel,  and 
I  delivered  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  Saul; 

9  Wherefore  hast  thou  despised  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord,  to  do  evil  in  his 
sight?  Thou  hast  killed  Uriah  the  Hittite 
with  the  sword,  and  hast  taken  his  wife  to 
be  thy  wife,  and  hast  slain  him  with  the 
sword  of  the  children  of  Ammon. 

10  Now  therefore  the  sword  shall  never 
depart  from  thine  house;  because  thou  hast 
despised  me,  and  hast  taken  the  wife  of 
Uriah  the  Hittite  to  be  thy  wife. 


And  the  Lord  said  unto  Nathan  the  Prophet,  David's  faithful 
friend,  "Go  thou  and  instruct  and  counsel  him,"  Nathan  judiciously 
gives  his  advice  in  the  form  of  a  parable,  on  which  David  gives  his 
judgment  as  to  the  sin  of  the  chief  actor  and  denounces  him  in  un- 
measured terms,  and  says  that  he  should  be  punished  with  death — 
"he  shall  surely  die."  David  did  not  suspect  the  bearing  of  the  fable 
until  Nathan  applied  it,  and,  to  David's  surprise  and  consternation, 
said,  "Thou  art  the  man." 

Uriah  the  Hittite  had  but  "one  little  ewe  lamb,"  one  wife  whom 
he  loved  as  his  own  soul,  while  King  David  had  many;  yet  he  robbed 
Uriah  of  all  that  he  had  and  made  him  carry  his  own  message  of  death 
to  Joab,  the  general  of  the  army,  who  gave  to  him  the  most  danger- 
ous place  in  the  battle,  and,  as  the  king  desired,  he  was  killed. 

When  the  king  first  recalled  Uriah  from  the  field,  Uriah  went  not 
to  his  own  house,  as  he  suspected  foul  play,  having  heard  that  Bath- 
sheba  often  appeared  at  court.  Both  the  king  and  Bath-sheba  urged 
him  to  go  to  his  own  house;  but  he  went  not.  Bath-sheba  had  been 
to  him  all  that  was  pure  and  beautiful  in  woman,  and  he  could  not 


COMMENTS  ON  SAMUEL.  ST 

endure  even  the  suspicion  of  guilt  in  her.  He  understood  the  king's 
plans,  and  probably  welcomed  death,  as  without  Bath-sheba's  love, 
life  had  no  joy  for  him.  But  to  be  transferred  from  the  cottage  of  a 
poor  soldier  to  the  palace  of  a  king  was  a  sufficient  compensation  for 
the  loss  of  the  love  of  a  true  and  faithful  man. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  cruel  deeds  of  David's  life,  marked  with 
so  many  acts  of  weakness  and  of  crime.  He  was  ruled  entirely  by 
his  passions.  Reason  had  no  sway  over  him.  Fortunately,  the 
development  of  self-respect  and  independence  in  woman,  and  a 
higher  idea  of  individual  conscience  and  judgment  in  religion  and  in 
government,  have  supplied  the  needed  restraint  for  man.  Men  will 
be  wise  and  virtuous  just  in  proportion  as  women  are  self-reliant  and 
able  to  meet  them  on  the  highest  planes  of  thought  and  of  action. 

No  magnet  is  so  powerful  as  that  which  draws  men  and  women 
to  each  other.  Hence  they  rise  or  fall  together.  This  is  one  lesson 
which  the  Bible  illustrates  over  and  over — the  degradation  of  woman 
degrades  man  also.  "Her  face  pleaseth  me,"  said  Samson,  who, 
although  he  could  conquer  lions,  was  like  putty  in  the  hands  of 
women.  E.  C.  S. 


BOOKS  OF  KINGS. 


Chapter  I. 


I  Kings  ». 

II  Wherefore  Nathan  spake  unto  Bath- 
sheba  the  mother  of  Solomon,  saying.  Hast 
thou  not  heard  that  Adonijah  the  son  of 
Haggith  doth  reign.  Go  .  .  .  unto  King 
David,  and  say  unto  him,  Didst  thou  not 
swear  unto  thine  handmaid,  saying,  As- 
suredly Solomon  thy  son  shall  reign  after 
me,  and  he  shall  sit  upon  my  throne?  Why 
then  doth  Adonijah  reign? 

IS  And  Bath-sheba  went  in  unto  the  king. 
.  .  .  And  the  king  said,  What  wouldst 
thou? 

17  And  she  said  unto  him,  Thou  swarest 
unto  thine  handmaid,  saying,  Assuredly 
Solomon  thy  son  shall  reign  after  me,  and 
he  shall  sit  upon  my  throne. 

18  And  now,  behold,  Adonijah  reigneth. 
22  And  lo,  while  she  yet  talked  with  the 

king,   Nathan  the  prophet  also  came  in. 

21  And  Nathan  said.  My  lord,  O  king, 
hast  thou  said,  Adonijah  shall  reign  after 
me,  and  he  shall  sit  upon  my  throne? 

28  Then  King  David  answered  and  said. 
Call  me  Bath-sheba.  And  she  came  and 
stood  before  the  king. 


29  And  the  king  sware,  and  said,  As  the 
Lord  liveth,  that  hath  redeemed  my  soul 
out  of  all  distress, 

30  Even  as  I  sware  unto  thee  by  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  saying,  Assuredly  Solomon 
thy  son  shall  reign  after  me,  and  he  shall 
sit  upon  my  throne  in  my  stead;  even  so 
will  I  certainly  do  this  day. 

31  Then  Bath-sheba  bowed  with  her  face 
to  the  earth,  and  did  reverence  to  the  king, 
and  said,  Let  my  lord,  King  David,  live 
for  ever. 

32  And  King  David  said.  Call  me  Zadok 
the  priest,  and  Nathan  the  prophet,  and 
Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada.  And  they 
came. 

33  The  king  also  said  unto  them.  Take 
with  you  the  servants  of  your  lord,  and 
cause  Solomon  my  son  to  ride  upon  mine 
own  mule,  and  bring  him  down  to  Gihon: 

34  And  let  Zadok  the  priest  and  Nathan 
the  prophet  anoint  him  there  king  over 
Israel:  and  blow  ye  with  the  trumpet,  and 
say,  God  save  King  Solomon. 


THESE  books  give  an  account  of  David's  death,  of  his  successor 
Solomon,  of  the  division  of  his  kingdom  between  the  kings 
of  Judah  and  of  Israel,  with  an  abstract  of  the  history  down 
to  the  captivity. 

Neither  the  king  nor  Bath-sheba  knew  that  Adonijah  was  mak- 
ing preparations  to  be  crowned  king  the  moment  when  he  heard  of 
David's  death.  He  made  a  great  feast,  inviting  all  the  king's  sons 
except  Solomon.  He  began  his  feast  by  a  show  of  devotion,  sacrific- 
ing sheep  and  oxen.     But  Nathan  the  Prophet  warns  the  king  and 

58 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS.  59 

Bath-sheba.  In  his  anxiety  he  appeals  to  Bath-sheba  as  the  one 
who  has  the  greatest  concern  about  Solomon,  and  can  most  easily 
get  an  audience  with  the  king.  He  suggests  that  Solomon  is  not 
only  in  danger  of  losing  his  crown,  but  both  he  and  she  of  losing  their 
lives. 

Accordingly,  Bath-sheba,  without  being  announced,  enters  the 
presence  of  the  king.  She  takes  no  notice  of  the  presence  of  Abi- 
shag,  but  makes  known  the  object  of  her  visit  at  once.  She  reminds 
the  king  of  his  vow  to  her  that  Solomon,  her  son,  should  be  his  suc- 
cessor to  his  throne.  Nathan  the  Prophet  is  announced  in  the 
audience  chamber  and  tells  the  king  of  the  preparations  that  Adoni- 
jah  is  making  to  usurp  the  crown  and  throne,  and  appeals  to  him  to 
keep  his  vow  to  Bath-sheba.  He  reminds  him  that  the  eyes  of  all 
Israel  are  upon  him,  and  that  David's  word  should  be  an  oracle  of 
honor  unto  them.  He  urged  the  king  to  immediate  action  and  to  put 
an  end  to  all  Adonijah's  pretensions  at  once,  which  the  king  did;  and 
Solomon  was  anointed  by  the  chief  priests  and  proclaimed  king. 

Adonijah  had  organized  a  party,  recognizing  him  as  king,  as  if 
David  were  already  dead ;  but  when  a  messenger  brought  the  news 
that  Solomon  had  been  anointed  king,  in  the  midst  of  the  feast  their 
jollities  were  turned  to  mourning. 

Nathan's  visits  to  the  king  were  always  welcome,  especially 
when  he  was  sick  and  when  something  lay  heavy  on  his  heart.  He 
came  to  the  king,  not  as  a  petitioner,  but  as  an  ambassador  from  God, 
not  merely  to  right  the  wrongs  of  individuals,  but  to  maintain  the 
honor  of  the  nation. 

As  David  grew  older  he  suffered  great  depression  of  spirits, 
hence  his  physicians  advised  that  he  be  surrounded  with  young  com- 
pany, who  might  cheer  and  comfort  him  with  their  own  happiness 
and  pleasure  in  life.  He  was  specially  cheered  by  the  society  of  Abi- 
shag,  the  Shunammite,  a  maiden  of  great  beauty  and  of  many  attrac- 
tions in  manner  and  conversation,  and  who  created  a  most  genial 
atmosphere  in  the  palace  of  the  king.  Bath-sheba's  ambition  for 
her  son  was  so  all  absorbing  that  she  cared  but  little  for  the  atten- 
tions of  the  king.  David  reigned  forty  years,  seven  in  Hebron  and 
thirty-three  in  Jerusalem. 


6o 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


I  Kings  it. 

Now  the  days  of  David  drew  nigh  that  he 
should  die;  and  he  charged  Solomon  his 
son,  saying. 


2  I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth:  be  thou 
strong  therefore,  and  show  thyself  a  man. 


It  is  a  great  pity  that  David's  advice  could  not  have  been  fortified 
by  the  honor  and  the  uprightness  of  his  own  hfe.  "Example  is 
stronger  than  precept." 


/  Kings  Hi. 

i6  Then  came  there  two  women  unto  the 
king,  and  stood  before  him. 

17  And  the  one  woman  said,  O  my  lord. 
I  and  this  woman  dwell  in  one  house:  and 
I  was  delivered  of  a  child. 

18  And  it  came  to  pass  the  third  day 
after,  this  woman  was  delivered  also: 

19  And  her  child  died  in  the  night;  be- 
cause she  overlaid  it. 

20  And  she  arose  at  midnight,  and  took 
my  son  from  beside  me,  while  thine  hand- 
maid slept,  and  laid  it  in  her  bosom,  and 
laid  her  dead  child  in  my  bosom. 

21  And  when  I  rose  in  the  morning  it 
was  dead;  but  when  I  had  considered  it, 
behold,  it  was  not  my  son. 

22  And  the  other  woman  said.  Nay;  but 
the  living  is  my  son,  and  the  dead  is  thy 
son.     And  this  said.   No;  but  the  dead   is 


thy  son,  and  the  living  is  my  son.     Thus 
they  spake  before  the  king. 

24  And  the  king  said.  Bring  me  a  swurd 
And  they  brought  a  sword  before  the  k  .i 

25  And  he  said.  Divide  the  living  cli..u 
in  two,  and  give  half  to  the  one,  and  hah  \o 
the  other. 

26  Then  spake  the  woman  whose  the  liv- 
ing child  was  unto  the  king,  and  she  said, 
O  my  lord,  give  her  the  living  ch.ld,  and  in 
no  wise  slay  it.  But  the  other  said,  Lei  it 
be  neither  mine  nor  thine,  but  divide  it. 

27  Then  the  king  answered  and  said.  Give 
her  the  living  child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it: 
she  is  the  mother  thereof. 

28  And  all  Israel  heard  of  the  judgment 
which  the  king  had  judged;  and  they  feared 
the  king  for  they  saw  that  the  wisdom  of 
God  was  in  him  to  do  judgment. 


This  case  was  opened  in  court,  not  by  lawyers,  but  by  the  parties 
themselves,  though  both  plaintiff  and  defendant  were  women.  Com- 
mentators thing  that  it  had  already  been  tried  in  the  lower  courts, 
and  the  judges  not  being  able  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  decision,  pre- 
ferred to  submit  the  case  to  Solomon  the  King.  It  was  an  occasion 
of  great  interest;  the  halls  of  justice  were  crowded,  all  waiting  with 
great  expectation  to  hear  what  the  king  would  say.  When  he  said, 
"bring  me  my  sword,"  the  sages  wondered  if  he  intended  to  kill  the 
parties,  as  the  shortest  way  to  end  the  case;  but  his  proposition  to 
kill  only  the  living  child  and  give  half  to  each,  showed  such  an  intui- 
tive knowledge  of  human  nature  that  all  were  impressed  with  his 
wisdom,  recognizing  at  once  what  the  natural  feelings  of  the  mother 
would  be.  Solomon  won  great  reputation  by  this  judgment.  The 
people  feared  his  piercing  eye  ever  after,  knowing  that  he  would  see 
the  real  truth  through  all  disguises  and  complications.         E.  C.  S. 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS. 


61 


In  Bath-sheba's  interview  with  David  one  feature  impresses  me 
unfavorably,  that  she  stood  before  the  king  instead  of  being  seated 
during  the  conference.  In  the  older  apostolic  churches  the  elder 
women  and  widows  were  provided  with  seats — only  the  young  wo- 
men stood;  but  in  the  instance  which  we  are  considering  the  faithful 
wife  of  many  years,  the  mother  of  wise  Solomon,  stood  before  her 
husband.  Then  David,  with  the  fear  of  death  before  his  eyes  and 
the  warning  words  of  the  prophet  ringing  in  his  ears,  remembered 
his  oath  to  Bath-sheba.  Bath-sheba,  the  wife  of  whom  no  moral 
wrong  is  spoken,  except  her  obedience  to  David  in  the  affairs  of  her 
first  husband,  bowed  with  her  face  to  the  earth  and  did  reverence  to 
the  king. 

This  was  entirely  wrong :  David  should  have  arisen  from  his  bed 
and  done  reverence  to  this  woman,  his  wife,  bowing  his  face  to  the 
earth.  Yet  we  find  this  Bible  teaching  the  subservience  of  woman 
to  man,  of  the  wife  to  the  husband,  of  the  queen  to  the  king,  ruling 
the  world  to-day.  During  the  recent  magnificent  coronation  cere- 
monies of  the  Czar,  his  wife,  granddaughter  of  Victoria,  Queen  of 
England  and  Empress  of  India,  who  changed  her  religion  in  order 
to  become  Czarina,  knelt  before  her  husband  while  he  momentarily 
placed  the  crown  upon  her  brow.  A  kneeling  wife  at  this  era  of 
civilization  is  proof  that  the  degradation  of  woman  continues  from 
the  time  of  Bath-sheba  to  that  of  Alexandria. 

In  I  Kings  ii.  13-25,  we  have  a  record  of  Solomon's  treatment 
of  that  mother  to  whom  he  was  indebted  not  only  for  his  throne,  but 
also  for  life  itself.  Adonijah,  who  had  lost  the  kingdom,  requested 
Bath-sheba's  influence  with  Solomon  that  the  fair  young  Abishag 
should  be  given  to  him  for  a  wife.  Having  lost  his  father's  king- 
dom, he  thought  to  console  himself  with  the  maiden. 


19  So  Bath-sheba  therefore  went  unto 
King  Solomon  to  speak  unto  him  for 
Adonijah.  And  the  king  rose  up  to  meet 
her,  and  bowed  himself  unto  her,  and  sat 


down  on  his  throne  and  caused  a  seat  to  be 
set  for  the  king's  mother;  and  she  sat  on 
his  right  hand. 


All  very  well  thus  far;  and  the  king,  in  his  reception  of  his 
mother,  showed  to  her  the  reverence  and  the  respect  which  was  due 
to  her.     Thus  emboldened,  Bath-sheba  said: 


62 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


20  I  desire  one  small  petition  of  thee;  say 
me  not  nay.  And  the  king  said  unto  her, 
Ask  on,  my  mother;  for  I  will  not  say  thee 
nay. 


21  And  she  said,  Let  Abishag  the  Shu- 
nammite  be  given  to  Adonijah,  thy  brother, 
to  wife. 


But  did  King  Solomon,  who  owed  both  throne  and  life  to  his 
mother,  keep  his  word  that  he  had  just  pledged  to  her,  "Ask  on,  my 
mother;  for  I  will  not  say  thee  nay?" 

No  indeed,  for  was  she  not  a  woman,  a  being  to  whom  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  make  promises  for  the  apparent  purpose  of  breaking  them ; 
for  the  king,  immediately  forgetting  his  promise  of  one  moment  pre- 
viously, cried  out: 


22  And  why  dost  thou  ask  Abishag  the 
Shunammite  for  Adonijah?  ask  for  him  the 
kingdom  also:  for  he  is  mine  elder  brother. 

23  Then  King  Solomon  sware  by  the 
Lord,  saying,  God  do  so  to  me,  and  more 
also,  if  Adonijah  have  not  spoken  this 
word  against  his  own  life. 


24  Now  therefore,  as  the  Lord  liveth, 
who  hath  established  me,  and  set  me  on  the 
throne  of  David  my  father,  and  who  hath 
made  me  an  house,  as  he  promised,  Adoni- 
jah shall  be  put  to  death  this  day. 


Solomon  was  anxious  to  give  credit  to  the  Lord  instead  of  his 
mother  for  having  set  him  on  the  throne,  and  also  to  credit  him  with 
having  kept  his  promise,  while  at  the  very  same  moment  he  was 
breaking  his  own  promise  to  his  mother.  And  this  promise-break- 
ing to  women,  taught  in  the  Bible,  has  been  incorporated  into  the 
laws  of  both  England  and  the  United  States — a  true  union  of  Church 
and  State  where  woman  is  concerned. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  that  a  suit  was  brought  in  England 
by  a  wife  against  a  husband  in  order  to  compel  the  keeping  of  his 
ante-nuptial  promise  that  the  children  of  the  marriage  should  be 
brought  up  in  the  mother's  religious  faith.  Having  married  the 
woman,  this  husband  and  father  found  it  convenient  to  break  his 
word,  ordering  her  to  instruct  the  children  in  his  own  faith,  and  the 
highest  court  in  England,  that  of  Appeals,  through  the  vice-chan- 
cellor, decided  against  her  upon  the  ground  that  a  wife  has  no  rights 
in  law  against  a  husband.  While  a  man's  word  broken  at  the  gaming 
table  renders  him  infamous,  subjecting  him  to  dishonor  through  life, 
a  husband's  pledged  word  to  his  wife  in  this  nineteenth  century  of 
the  Christian  era  is  of  no  more  worth  than  was  the  pledged  word  of 


COMMENTS   ON   KINGS.  6^ 

King  Solomon  to  Bath-sheba  in  the  tenth  century  before  the  Christ- 
ian era. 

The  Albany  Law  Journal,  commenting  upon  the  Agar-Ellis  case, 
declared  the  English  decision  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  general  law 
in  regard  to  religious  education — the  child  is  to  be  educated  in  the 
religion  of  its  father.  But  in  the  case  of  Bath-sheba,  Solomon's  sur- 
prising acrobatic  feat  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  reception 
which  he  at  first  gave  to  his  mother.  Not  only  did  Solomon  "say 
her  nay,"  but  poor  Adonijah  lost  not  only  wife,  but  life  also,  because 
of  her  intercession. 

This  chapter  closes  with  an  account  of  Solomon's  judgment  be- 
tween two  mothers,  each  of  whom  claimed  a  living  child  as  her  own 
and  the  dead  child  as  that  of  her  rival.  This  judgment  has  often 
been  referred  to  as  showing  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.  He  under- 
stood a  mother's  boundless  love,  that  the  true  mother  would  infinitely 
prefer  that  her  rival  should  retain  her  infant  than  that  the  child  should 
be  divided  between  them. 

However,  this  tale,  like  many  another  Biblical  story,  is  found 
imbedded  in  the  folk-lore-myths  of  other  peoples  and  religions. 
Prof.  White's  "Warfare  of  Science  and  Theology"  quotes  Fans- 
boll  as  finding  it  in  "Buddhist  Birth  Stories."  The  able  Biblical 
critic,  Henry  Macdonald,  regards  the  Israelitish  kings  as  wholly 
legendary,  and  Solomon  as  unreal  as  Mug  Nuadat  or  Partholan ;  but 
let  its  history  be  real  or  unreal,  the  Bible  accurately  represents  the 
condition  of  women  under  the  Jewish  patriarchal  and  the  Christian 
monogamous  religions.  M.  J.  G 


64 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


Chapter  TI. 


I  Kings  X. 

1  And  when  the  Queen  of  Sheba  heard  of 
the  fame  of  Solomon  concerning  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  she  came  to  prove  him  with 
hard  questions. 

2  And  she  came  to  Jerusalem  with  a  very 
great  train,  with  camels  that  bare  spices, 
and  very  much  gold,  and  precious  stones: 
and  when  she  was  come  to  Solomon,  she 
communed  with  him  of  all  that  was  in  her 
heart. 

3  And  Solomon  told  her  all  her  ques- 
tions. 

4  And  whep  the  Queen  of  Sheba  had 
seen  all  Solomon's  wisdom,  and  the  house 
that  he  had  built, 

5  And  the  meat  of  his  table,  and  the  sit- 
ting of  his  servants,  and  the  attendance  of 
his  ministers,  and  their  apparel,  and  his 
cup-bearers,  and  his  ascent  by  which  he 
went  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord;  there 
was  no  more  spirit  in  her. 


6  And  she  said  to  the  king.  It  was  a  true 
report  that  I  heard  in  mine  own  land  of  thy 
acts  and  of  thy  wisdom. 

7  Howbeit  I  believed  not  the  words,  un- 
til I  came,  and  mine  eyes  had  seen  it;  and, 
behold,  the  half  was  not  told  me;  thy  wis- 
dom and  prosperity  exceedeth  the  fame 
which  I  heard. 

9  Blessed  be  the  Lord  thy  God,  which 
delighteth  in  thee,  to  set  thee  on  the  throne 
of  Israel. 

10  And  she  gave  the  king  a  hundred  and 
twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  of  spices  very 
great  store,  and  precious  stones:    .    .    . 

13  And  King  Solomon  gave  unto  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  all  her  desire,  whatsoever 
she  asked.  So  she  turned  and  went  to  her 
own  country. 


IN  the  height  of  Solomon's  piety  and  prosperity  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
came  to  visit  him.  She  had  heard  of  his  great  weaUh  and  wis- 
dom and  desired  to  see  if  all  was  true.  She  was  called  the  Queen 
of  the  South,  supposed  to  be  in  Africa.  The  Christians  in  Ethiopia 
say  to  this  day  that  she  came  from  their  country,  and  that  Candace, 
spoken  of  in  Acts  viii.,  2y,  was  her  successor.  She  was  queen  re- 
gent, sovereign  of  her  country.  Many  a  kingdom  would  have  been 
deprived  of  its  greatest  blessing  if  the  Salic  law  had  been  admitted 
into  its  constitution. 

It  was  a  great  journey  for  tlif  queen,  with  her  retinue,  to  under- 
take. The  reports  of  the  magnificence  of  Solomon's  surroundings, 
the  temple  of  the  Lord  and  the  palace  for  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh, 
roused  her  curiosity  to  see  his  wealth.  The  reports  of  his  wisdom 
inspired  her  with  the  hope  that  she  might  obtain  new  ideas  on  the 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS.  6$ 

science  of  government  and  help  her  to  establish  a  more  perfect  sys- 
tem in  her  kingdom.  She  had  heard  of  his  piety,  too,  his  religion 
and  the  God  whom  he  worshiped,  and  his  maxims  of  policy  in  morals 
and  public  life.  She  is  mentioned  again  in  the  New  Testament  in 
Matthew  xii.,  42.  She  brought  many  valuable  presents  of  gold, 
jewels,  spices  and  precious  stones  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  her 
retinue  at  Solomon's  court,  to  show  him  that  her  country  was  worthy 
of  honor  and  of  respect. 

The  queen  was  greatly  surprised  with  all  that  she  saw,  the  reality 
surpassed  her  wildest  imagination.  Solomon's  reception  was  most 
cordial  and  respectful,  and  he  conversed  with  her  as  he  would  with 
a  friendly  king  coming  to  visit  from  afar.  This  is  the  first  ac- 
count which  we  have  in  the  Bible  of  a  prolonged  rational  conversa- 
tion with  a  woman  on  questions  of  public  policy.  He  answered  all 
her  questions,  though  the  commentators  volunteer  the  opinion  that 
some  may  have  been  frivolous  and  captious.  As  the  text  suggests 
no  such  idea,  we  have  a  right  to  assume  that  her  conduct  and  con- 
versation were  pre-eminently  judicious.  Solomon  did  not  suggest 
to  the  queen  that  she  was  out  of  her  sphere,  that  home  duties,  chil- 
dren and  the  philosophy  of  domestic  life  were  the  proper  subjects 
for  her  consideration ;  but  he  talked  with  her  as  one  sovereign  should 
with  another. 

She  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  elegance  of  his  surroundings, 
the  artistic  effect  of  his  table,  and  the  gold,  silver  and  glass,  the  skill 
of  his  servants,  the  perfect  order  which  reigned  throughout  the 
palace,  but  more  than  all  with  his  piety  and  wisdom,  and  his  rever- 
ence when  he  went  up  to  the  temple  to  worship  God  or  to  make  the 
customary  offering.  She  wondered  at  such  greatness  and  goodness 
combined  in  one  man.  Her  visit  was  one  succession  of  surprises; 
and  she  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  truth  of  all  that  she  had  heard  ex- 
ceeded her  expectations.  She  is  spoken  of  in  Psalms  Ixxii.,  15,  as  a 
pattern  for  Solomon. 

E.  C.  S. 


66 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


1  Kings  xi. 

1  But  King  Solomon  loved  many  strange 
"women,  together  with  the  daughter  of  Pha- 
raoh, women  of  the  Moabites,  Ammonites, 
Edomites,  Zidonians  and  Hittites: 

2  Of  the  nations  concerning  which  the 
Lord  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye 
shall  not  go  in  to  them,  neither  shall  they 
come  in  unto  you:  for  surely  they  will  turn 


away  your  heart  after  their  gods:    Solomon 
clave  unto  these  in  love. 

3  And  he  had  seven  hundred  wives,  prin- 
cesses, and  three  hundred  concubines: 

4  It  came  to  pass,  when  Solomon  was 
old,  that  his  wives  turned  away  his  heart 
after  other  gods:  and  his  heart  was  not 
perfect  with  the  Lord  his  God. 


This  is  a  sad  story  of  Solomon's  defection  and  degeneracy.  As 
the  Queen  of  Sheba  did  not  have  seven  hundred  husbands,  she  had 
time  for  travel  and  the  observation  of  the  great  world  outside  of  her 
domain.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  ennui  a  thousand  women 
must  have  suffered  crowded  together,  with  only  one  old  gentleman 
to  contemplate ;  but  he  probably  solaced  their  many  hours  with  some 
of  his  choice  songs,  so  appreciative  of  the  charms  of  beautiful  women. 
It  is  probable  that  his  little  volume  of  poems  was  in  the  hand  of  every 
woman,  and  that  Solomon  gave  them  occasional  recitations  on  the 
imaginative  and  emotional  nature  of  women.  We  have  reason  to 
believe  that  with  his  wisdom  he  gave  as  much  variety  to  their  lives 
as  possible,  and  with  fine  oratory,  graceful  manners  and  gorgeous 
apparel  made  himself  as  attractive  as  the  situation  permitted. 

E.  C.  S. 


There  have  been  a  great  number  of  different  views  held  in  regard 
to  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  both  in  reference  to  the  signification  of  the 
name  "Sheba,"  and  also  in  relation  to  the  country  from  which  this 
famous  personage  made  a  visit  to  Solomon.  Abyssinia,  Ethiopia, 
Persia  and  Arabia  have  each  laid  claim  to  this  wise  woman,  Mene- 
lik,  the  present  king  of  the  former  country,  who  so  effectually  de- 
feated Italy  in  his  recent  war  with  that  country,  possesses  the  same 
name  as,  and  claims  descent  from,  the  fabled  son  of  this  wise  woman 
and  of  the  wise  king  Solomon,  one  of  whose  numerous  wives,  it  is 
traditionally  said,  she  became.  Ethiopia,  the  seat  of  a  very  ancient 
and  great  civilization,  and  whose  capital  was  called  Saba;  Persia, 
where  the  worship  of  the  sun  and  of  fire  originated;  and  Arabia,  the 
country  of  gold,  of  frankincense  and  of  myrrh,  also  claim  her.  It  is 
to  the  latter  country  that  this  queen  belonged. 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS.  67 

Whether  we  look  upon  the  Bible  as  a  historical  work,  a  myth- 
ological work,  or,  as  many  now  do  regard  it,  as  "A  Book  of  the 
Adepts,  written  by  Initiates,  for  Initiates,"  a  record  of  ancient  mys- 
teries hidden  to  all  but  initiates,  the  Queen  of  Sheba  is  a  most  inter- 
esting character. 

The  words  Sab,  Saba,  Sheba,  all  have  an  astronomical  or  astro- 
logical meaning,  signifying  the  "Host  of  Heaven,"  "The  Planetary 
System."  Saba,  or  Sheba,  was  especially  the  home  of  astronomical 
wisdom;  and  all  words  of  this  character  mean  wise  in  regard  to  the 
stars.  The  wisdom  of  Saba  and  of  the  Sabeans  was  planetary  wis- 
dom, the  "Sabean  language"  meaning  astronomy,  or  astrology,  the 
latter  being  the  esoteric  portion  of  the  science.  At  the  time  of  the 
mysteries,  astrology  was  a  sacred  or  secret  science,  the  words  "sa- 
cred" and  "secret"  meaning  the  same  thing.  Among  the  oldest 
mysteries,  when  all  learning  was  confined  to  initiates,  were  those  of 
Sabasia,  whose  periodic  festivals  of  a  sacred  character  were  so  ex- 
tremely ancient  that  their  origin  is  now  lost. 

Solomon,  also,  whether  looked  upon  as  a  historical  or  a  mythical 
character,  is  philologically  shown  to  have  been  connected  with  the 
planetary  system,  Sol-Om-On  signifying  "the  sun."  It  is  singular 
to  note  how  closely  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the  stars  are  connected 
with  ancient  religions,  even  that  of  the  Jewish.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  new  moon  and  the  Sab-bath  are  almost  invariably  men- 
tioned together.  The  full  moon  also  possessed  a  religious  significa- 
tion to  the  Jews,  the  agricultural  feasts  taking  place  at  the  full  moon, 
which  were  called  Sab-baths.  Even  in  the  Old  Testament  we  find 
that  Sab  has  an  astronomical  or  astrological  meaning,  connected 
with  the  planetary  system. 

The  Sabeans  were  an  occult  body,  especially  devoted  to  a  study 
of  the  heavens;  at  their  head,  the  wisest  among  them,  the  chief 
astronomer  and  astrologer  of  the  nation,  the  wisest  person  in  a  nation 
of  wisdom,  was  that  Queen  of  Sheba,  who  visited  that  other  planetary 
dignitary,  Solomon,  to  prove  him  with  hard  astronomical  and  astro- 
logical questions. 

There  is  historic  proof  that  the  city  of  Saba  was  the  royal  seat  of 
the  kings  of  Arabia,  which  country,  Diodorus  says,  was  never  con- 


68  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

quered.  Among  ancient  peoples  it  bore  the  names  of  "Araby  the 
Happy,"  "Araby  the  Blest."  It  was  a  country  of  gold  and  spices 
whose  perfume  was  wafted  far  over  the  sea.  All  cups  and  utensils 
were  of  the  precious  metals;  all  beds,  chairs  and  stools  having  feet  of 
silver;  the  temples  were  magnificently  adorned;  and  the  porticoes 
of  even  the  private  houses  were  of  gold  inlaid  with  ivory  and  precious 
stones. 

Among  the  presents  carried  by  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  Sol-Om- 
On  were  the  famous  balsam  trees  of  her  country.  The  first  attempt 
at  plant  acclimatizing  of  which  the  world  has  record  was  made  with 
this  tree  by  the  magnificent  Pharaoh,  Queen  Hatasu,  of  the  brilliant 
eighteenth  Egyptian  dynasty.  A  thousand  years  before  she  of  She- 
ba, Queen  Hatasu,  upon  her  return  from  a  naval  expedition  to  the 
Red  Sea,  carried  home  with  her  twelve  of  these  trees  in  baskets  of 
earth,  which  lived  and  became  one  of  the  three  species  of  sacred  trees 
of  Egypt. 

Arabia  was  the  seat  of  Eastern  wisdom,  from  which  it  also  ra- 
diated to  the  British  Isles  of  Europe  at  the  time  of  the  Celtic  Druids, 
with  whom  Sabs  was  the  day  when  these  lords  of  Sabaoth  rested  from 
study  and  gave  instructions  to  the  people.  As  previously  among 
the  Jews,  this  day  of  instruction  became  known  as  one  of  rest  from 
physical  labor,  Sab-bath  and  rest  becoming  synonymous.  Seven 
being  a  sacred  number  among  initiates,  every  seventh  day  was  de- 
voted to  instruction.  When  a  knowledge  of  the  mysteries  became 
lost,  the  words  "Sab-bath,"  "rest"  and  "seven"  began  to  have  a  very 
wrong  meaning  in  the  minds  of  people;  and  much  injury  has  been 
done  to  the  world  through  this  perversion. 

But  later  than  Druidical  times,  Arabian  wisdom  made  the  south- 
western portion  of  the  European  continent  brilliant  with  learning, 
during  the  long  period  of  the  Christian  dark  ages,  a  time  when,  like 
the  Bourbons  of  later  date,  Christians  learned  nothing,  a  time  when 
no  heresy  arose  because  no  thought  was  allowed,  when  there  was  no 
progress  because  there  was  no  doubt. 

From  these  countrymen  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  the  Spanish 
Arabs,  Columbus  first  learned  of  a  world  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Her- 
cules.   Architecture  rose  to  its  height  in  the  beautiful  Alhambra, 


COMMENTS  ON  KINGS.  6g 

with  its  exquisite  interlaced  tracery  in  geometric  design;  medicine 
had  its  profound  schools  at  various  points;  poetry  numbered  women 
among  its  most  famous  composers;  the  ballad  originated  there;  and 
the  modern  literature  of  Europe  was  born  from  a  woman's  pen  upon 
the  hearth  of  the  despised  Ishmaelite,  whose  ancestral  mother  was 
known  as  Hagar,  and  whose  most  brilliant  descendant  was  the  Queen 
of  Sheba. 

Nowhere  upon  the  earth  has  there  existed  a  race  of  improvisa- 
tores  equal  to  the  daughters  of  that  despised  bondwoman,  the  coun- 
trywoman of  the  Queen  of  Sheba.  As  storytellers  the  world  has  not 
their  equal.  Scherezade  is  a  name  upon  the  lips  of  Jews,  of  Gentiles, 
of  Mohammedans  and  of  Christians.  A  woman's  "Thousand  and 
One  Nights"  is  famous  as  a  combination  of  wit,  wisdom  and  occult- 
ism wherever  the  language  of  civilization  is  spoken.  With  increas- 
ing knowledge  we  learn  somewhat  of  the  mysteries  of  the  inner, 
higher  life  contained  in  those  tales  of  genii,  of  rings  and  of  lamps  of 
wondrous  and  curious  power.  The  race  descended  from  Hagar,  of 
which  the  Queen  of  Sheba  is  the  most  brilliant  reminder,  has  given 
to  the  world  the  most  of  its  profound  literature,  elegant  poetry,  aft, 
science  and  occultism.  Arabia  is  the  mother  of  mathematics;  from 
this  country  was  borrowed  our  one  (i)  and  our  cipher  (o),  from 
which  all  other  notation  is  evolved. 

Astronomy  and  astrology  being  among  the  oldest  sciences,  the 
moon  early  became  known  as  "the  Measurer,"  her  varied  motions, 
her  influence  upon  the  tides,  her  connection  with  the  generative 
functions,  all  giving  her  a  high  place  in  the  secret  sciences.  While  in 
a  planetary  sense  the  Queen  of  Sheba  has  in  a  manner  been  identi- 
fied with  the  moon,  as  Sabs,  she  was  also  connected  with  the  sun,  the 
same  as  Solomon  and  the  serpent.  When  Moses  lifted  up  the  brazen 
serpent  in  the  wilderness  it  was  specifically  a  part  of  sun  worship. 
The  golden  calf  of  Aaron  was  more  closely  connected  with  moon 
worship,  although  the  serpentine  path  of  both  these  bodies  in  the 
heavens  identified  each  with  the  serpent. 

The  occult  knowledge  which  the  Jews  possessed  in  regard  to  those 
planets  was  borrowed  by  them  from  Egypt,  where  for  many  ages  the 
sun  and  the  moon  had  been  studied  in  connection  with  their  move- 


70  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


ments  in  the  zodiac.  In  that  country  these  serpentine  movements 
were  symboUzed  by  the  uroeus,  or  asp,  worn  upon  the  crown  above 
the  head  of  every  Pharaoh.  So  closely  was  the  Jewish  religion  con- 
nected with  worship  of  the  planetary  bodies  that  Moses  is  said  to 
have  disappeared  upon  Mount  Nebo,  a  word  which  shows  the  moun- 
tain to  have  been  sacred  to  the  moon;  while  Elijah  ascending  in  a 
chariot  of  fire  is  a  record  of  sun  worship.  When  the  famous  woman 
astronomer  and  astrologer,  Queen  of  Sheba,  visited  the  symbolic 
King  Solomon,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  proving  him  with  hard 
planetary  questions  and  thus  learning  the  depth  of  his  astronomical 
and  his  astrological  knowledge,  which,  thanks  to  the  planetary  wor- 
ship of  the  Jews,  she  found  equal  to  her  own. 

We  are  further  told  that  Solomon,  not  content  with  a  princess 
from,  the  royal  house  of  Pharaoh  as  wife,  married  seven  hundred 
wives,  all  princesses,  besides  taking  to  himself  three  hundred  concu- 
bines. It  is  upon  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially 
from  this  statement  in  regard  to  Solomon,  that  the  Mormons  of  Utah 
largely  base  their  polygamous  doctrines,  the  revelations  of  Joseph 
Smith  being  upon  the  Solomon  line.  Yet  the  Mormons  have  ad- 
vanced in  their  treatment  of  women  from  the  time  of  Solomon. 
While  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  commended  plural  marriages, 
the  system  and  the  name  of  concubinage  was  entirely  omitted,  each 
woman  thus  taken  being  endowed  with  the  name  of  "wife." 

The  polygamy  of  New  York,  of  Chicago,  of  London,  of  Paris,  of 
Vienna  and  of  other  parts  of  the  Christian  world,  like  that  of  Solo- 
mon's three  hundred,  is  a  system  of  concubinage  in  which  the  woman 
possesses  no  legal  rights,  the  mistress  neither  being  recognized  as 
wife,  nor  her  children  as  legitimate;  whereas  Mormon  polygamy 
grants  Mormon  respect  to  the  second,  the  third,  and  to  all  subse- 
quent wives. 

The  senility  of  old  men  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Solo'non, 
despite  Biblical  reference  to  his  great  wisdom,  as  we  learn  that  when 
he  became  "old"  he  was  led  away  by  "strange"  women,  worshiping 
strange  gods  to  whom  he  erected  temples  and  offered  sacrifices. 
To  those  who  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  re-incarnation,  and  who 
look  upon  the  Bible  as  an  occult  work  written  in  symbolic  language, 


COMMENTS   ON   KINGS. 


n 


Solomon's  reputed  "wives"  and  "concubines"  are  regarded  as  sym- 
bolic of  his  incarnations,  the  wives  representing  good  incarnations 
and  the  concubines  evil  ones.  M.  J.  G. 


I  Ktngs  xvii. 

8  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
him,  saying, 

9  Arise,  get  thee  to  Zarephath,  and  dwell 
there:  behold,  I  have  commanded  a  widow 
there  to  sustain  thee. 

10  tjo  he  arose  and  went  to  Zarephath. 
And  when  he  came  to  the  gate  of  the  city, 
behold,  the  widow  was  there  gathering 
sticks:  and  he  called  to  her,  and  said, 
Fetch  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  little  water  and  a 
morsel  of  bread. 

12  And  she  said,  I  have  not  a  cake,  but 
a  handful  of  meal  in  a  barrel,  and  a  little 
oil  in  a  cruse:  and  I  am  gathering  sticks, 
that  I  may  dress  it  for  me  and  my  son,  that 
we  may  eat  it,  and  die. 

13  And  Elijah  said  unto  her,  Fear  not; 
go  and  do  as  thou  hast  said :  but  make  me 
thereof  a  little  cake  first,  and  after  make 
for  thee  and  for  thy  son. 

14  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
The  barrel  of  meal  shall  not  waste,  neither 
shall  the  cruse  of  oil  fail,  until  the  day  that 
the  Lord  sendeth  rain  upon  the  earth. 

15  And  she  went  and  did  according  to 
the  saying  of  Elijah:  and  she,  and  he,  and 
her  house,  did  eat  many  days. 


16  And  the  barrel  of  meal  wasted  not, 
neither  did  the  cruse  of  oil  fail. 

17  And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things, 
that  the  son  of  the  woman  fell  sick;  and 
there  was  no  breath  left  in  him. 

18  And  she  said  unto  Elijah,  What  have 
I  to  do  with  thee,  O  thou  man  of  God?  art 
thou  come  unto  me  to  call  my  sin  to  re- 
membrance, and  to  slay  my  son? 

19  And  he  said  unto  her,  Give  me  tliy 
son.  And  he  carried  him  up  and  laid  him 
upon  his  own  bed. 

20  And  he  cried  unto  the  Lord  and  said, 
O  Lord  my  God,  hast  thou  also  brought 
evil  upon  the  widow  by  slaying  her  son? 

21  And  he  stretched  himself  upon  the 
child  three  times,  and  cried  unto  the  Lord, 
and  said,  O  Lord  my  God,  I  pray  thee,  let 
this  child's  soul  come  into  him  again. 

22  And  the  Lord  heard  the  voice  of  EIi« 
jah;  and  the  soul  of  the  child  came  into 
him  again,  and  he  revived. 

23  And  Elijah  took  the  child  and  deliv- 
ered him  unto  his  mother,  and  said.  See, 
thy  son  liveth. 

24  And  the  woman  said.  Now  I  know 
that  thou  art  a  man  of  God. 


The  history  of  Elijah  the  prophet  begins  somewhat  abruptly, 
without  any  mention  of  father,  of  family  or  of  country.  He  seems, 
as  it  were,  suddenly  to  drop  from  the  clouds.  He  does  not  come 
with  glad  tidings  of  joy  to  the  people;  but  with  prophecies  of  a  pro- 
longed famine,  in  which  there  shall  be  neither  rain  nor  dew  to  moist- 
en the  earth,  until  King  Ahab  and  his  people  repent  of  their  sins. 
Elijah  himself  was  fed  by  ravens  in  a  miraculous  manner,  and  later 
by  a  poor  widow  who  had  only  just  enough  in  her  larder  to  furnish 
one  meal  for  herself  and  her  son.  Here  are  a  series  of  complica- 
tions enough  to  stagger  the  faith  of  the  strongest  believer  in  the 
supernatural.  But  the  poor  widow  meets  him  at  the  gates  of  the 
city  as  directed  by  the  Lord,  improvises  bread  and  water,  takes  him 


72  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

to  her  home  and  for  two  years  treats  him  with  all  the  kindness  and 
the  attention  which  she  would  naturally  give  to  one  of  her  own  kins- 
men. "Oh!  woman,  great  is  thy  faith/'  exclaimed  the  prophet. 
Women  are  so  easily  deluded  that  most  of  the  miracles  of  the  Bible 
are  performed  for  their  benefit;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  witch  of 
Endor,  she  occasionally  performs  some  herself. 

The  widow  believed  that  Elijah  was  "a.  man  of  God,"  and  that 
she  could  do  whatever  he  ordered;  that  she  could  get  water,  though 
there  had  been  a  drought  for  a  long  time;  that  although  she  had 
only  a  handful  of  meal  and  a  little  cruse  of  oil,  yet  they  would  in- 
crease day  by  day.  "Never  did  corn  or  olives  in  the  growing,"  says 
Bishop  Hall,  "increase  as  did  that  of  the  widow  in  the  using."  Dur- 
ing the  two  years  in  which  she  entertained  the  prophet,  she  enjoyed 
peace  and  prosperity ;  but  when  she  supposed  that  her  son  was  dead, 
her  faith  wavered;  and  she  deplored  her  kindness  to  the  prophet, 
and  reproved  him  for  bringing  sorrow  upon  her  household.  How- 
ever, as  the  prophet  was  able  to  restore  him  to  life,  her  faith  was  re- 
stored also. 

This  is  the  first  record  which  we  have  of  the  restoration  of  the 
dead  to  life  in  the  Bible;  and  it  is  the  first  also  of  any  one  ascend- 
ing into  heaven  "in  a  chariot  of  fire  with  horses  of  fire."  Probably 
Elijah  knew  how  to  construct  a  balloon.  Much  of  the  ascending 
and  the  descending  of  seers,  of  angels  and  of  prophets  which  aston- 
ished the  ignorant  was  accomplished  in  balloons — a  lost  art  for 
many  centuries.  No  doubt  that  the  poor  widow,  when  she  saw 
Elijah  ascend,  thought  that  he  went  straight  to  heaven,  though  in  all 
probability  he  landed  at  twilight  in  some  retired  corn  field  or  olive 
grove,  at  some  distance  from  the  point  where  his  ascent  took  place. 

The  question  is  often  asked  where  the  ravens  got  the  cooked 
meat  and  bread  for  the  prophet.  Knowing  their  impelling  instinct 
to  steal,  the  Creator  felt  safe  in  trusting  his  prophet  to  their  care,  and 
they  proved  themselves  worthy  his  confidence.  Their  rookeries 
were  near  the  cave  where  Elijah  was  sequestered.  Having  keen 
olfactories,  they  smelt  the  cooking  of  dainty  viands  from  afar. 
Guided  by  this  sense,  they  perched  on  a  fence  near  by  where  they 
could  watch  the  movements  of  the  cook,  and  when  her  back  was 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS. 


73 


turned  they  flew  in  and  seized  the  Httle  birds  and  soft  shell  crabs  and 
carried  them  to  Elijah,  halting  by  the  way  only  long  enough  to 
satisfy  their  own  imperative  hunger. 

Jezebel  was  Elijah's  greatest  enemy;  yet  the  Lord  bade  him  hide 
in  her  country  by  the  brook  Cherith,  that  he  might  have  plenty  of 
water.  The  Lord  hid  him  so  that  the  people  should  not  besiege 
him  to  shorten  the  drought.  So  he  was  entirely  alone  with  the 
ravens,  and  had  all  his  time  for  prayer  and  contemplation.  When 
removed  from  the  care  of  the  ravens,  the  Lord  did  not  send  him  to 
the  rich  and  the  prosperous,  but  to  a  poor  widow,  who,  believing 
him  a  man  of  God,  ministered  to  his  necessities.  She  did  not  sug- 
gest that  he  was  a  stranger  to  her  and  that  water  cost  money,  but 
hastened  to  do  whatever  he  ordered.  She  had  her  recompense  in 
the  restoration  of  her  son  to  life.  In  the  prophet's  struggle  with 
God  for  this  blessing  to  the  widow,  the  man  appears  to  greater  ad- 
vantage than  does  the  Master. 

It  appears  from  the  reports  in  our  metropolitan  journals  that  a 
railroad  is  now  about  to  be  built  from  Tor  to  the  summit  of  Mount 
Sinai.  The  mountain  is  only  accessible  on  one  side.  A  depot,  it  is 
said,  will  be  erected  near  the  spot  where  a  stone  cross  was  placed  by 
the  Russian  Empress  Helena,  and  where,  according  to  tradition, 
Moses  stood  when  receiving  the  commandments.  The  railroad  will 
also  pass  the  cave  in  which  the  prophet  Elijah  remained  in  hiding 
while  fleeing  from  the  priest  of  Baal. 


J  Kings  xxi. 

And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things, 
that  Naboth  the  Jezreelite  had  a  vineyard, 
hard  by  the  palace  of  Ahab  king  of  Sama- 
ria. 

a  And  Ahab  spake  unto  Naboth,  saying. 
Give  me  thy  vineyard,  because  it  is  near 
unto  my  house:  and  I  will  give  thee  the 
worth  of  it. 

3  And  Naboth  said  to  Ahab,  The  Lord 
forbid  that  I  should  give  the  inheritance 
of  my  fathers  unto  thee. 

4  And  Ahab  came  into  his  house  heavy 
and  displeased  because  of  the  virord  which 
Kaboth  had  spoken  to  him.  And  he  laid 
him  down  upon  his  bed,  and  turned  away 
bis  face,  and  would  eat  no  bread. 


5  But  Jezebel  his  wife  came  to  him,  and 
said  unto  him.  Why  is  thy  spirit  so  sad? 

6  And  he  said  unto  her,  Because  I  spake 
unto  Naboth,  and  said  unto  him.  Give  me 
thy  vineyard  for  money;  and  he  answered, 
1  will  not. 

7  And  Jezebel  his  wife  said  unto  him. 
Dost  thou  now  govern  the  kingdom  of 
Israel?  arise,  and  let  thine  heart  be  merry: 
1  will  give  thee  the  vineyard  of  Naboth. 

8  So  she  wrote  letters  in  Ahab's  name, 
and  sealed  them  with  his  seal,  and  sent  the 
letters  unto  the  elders  and  to  the  nobles 
that  were  in  his  city. 

9  And  she  wrote  in  the  letters,   saying. 


74 


THE    WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


Proclaim  a  fast,  and  set   Naboth  on  high 
among  the  people: 

ID  And  set  two  men,  sons  of  Belial,  be- 
fore him,  to  bear  witness  against  him,  say- 
ing. Thou  didst  blaspheme  God  and  the 
king.  And  then  carry  him  out,  and  stone 
him,  that  he  may  die. 

11  And  the  men  of  his  city  did  as  Jezebel 
had  sent  unto  them. 

12  They  proclaimed  a  fast,  and  set  Na- 
both on  high  among  the  people. 


13  And  there  came  in  two  men  and  sat 
before  him:  and  the  men  witnessed  against 
him,  saying,  Naboth  did  blaspheme  God 
and  the  king.  Then  they  carried  him  forth 
and  stoned  him  with  stones,  that  he  died. 

14  Then  they  sent  to  Jezebel,  saying,  Na- 
both is  dead. 

15  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jezebel 
heard  that  Naboth  was  dead,  she  said  to 
Ahab,  Arise,  take  possession  of  the  vine- 
yard. 


Jezebel,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  the  Zidonians  and  the  wife 
of  Ahab,  is  generally  referred  to  as  the  most  wicked  and  cruel  woman 
on  record;  and  her  name  is  the  synonym  of  all  that  is  evil.  She 
came  honestly  by  these  characteristics,  if  it  is  true  "that  evil  com- 
munications corrupt  good  manners,"  as  her  husband  Ahab  was  the 
most  wicked  of  all  the  kings  of  Israel.  And  yet  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  a  man  of  much  fortitude;  for  in  a  slight  disappoint- 
ment in  the  purchase  of  land  he  comes  home  in  a  hopeless  mood, 
throws  himself  on  his  bed  and  turns  his  face  to  the  wall.  Accord- 
ing to  the  text,  Jezebel  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  She  not  only  in- 
fused new  life  into  Ahab,  but  got  possession  of  the  desired  land, 
though  in  a  most  infamous  manner.  The  false  prophetess  spoken 
of  in  Rev.  ii.,  20,  is  called  Jezebel.  She  was  a  devout  adherent  and 
worshiper  of  Baal  and  influenced  Ahab  to  follow  strange  gods.  He 
reigned  twenty-two  years  without  one  worthy  action  to  gild  his 
memory.     Jezebel's  death,  like  her  life,  was  a  tragedy  of  evil. 

E.  C.  S. 


All  we  know  about  Jezebel  is  told  us  by  a  rival  religionist,  who 
hated  her  as  the  Pope  of  Rome  hated  Martin  Luther,  or  as  an 
American  A.  P.  A.  now  hates  a  Roman  Catholic.  Nevertheless, 
even  the  Jewish  historian,  evidently  biassed  against  Jezebel  by  his 
theological  prejudices  as  he  is,  does  not  give  any  facts  whatever 
which  warrant  the  assertion  that  Jezebel  was  any  more  satanic  than 
the  ancient  Israelitish  gentleman,  to  whom  her  theological  views 
were  opposed.  Of  course  we,  at  this  stage  of  scientific  thought, 
know  that  Jezebel's  religion  was  not  an  admirable  one.  Strangely 
enough,  for  a  religion,  it  actually  made  her  intolerant !     But  to  Jeze- 


COMMENTS   OM  KINGS.  75 

bel  it  was  a  truth,  for  which  she  battled  as  bravely  as  Elijah  did  for 
what  he  imagined  to  be  eternal  verity.  The  facts,  admitted  even  by 
the  historian  who  hated  her,  prove  that,  notwithstanding  her  unfor- 
tunate and  childish  conception  of  theology,  Jezebel  was  a  brave,  fear- 
less, generous  woman,  so  wholly  devoted  to  her  own  husband  that 
even  wrong  seemed  justifiable  to  her,  if  she  could  thereby  make  him 
happy.  (In  that  respect  she  seems  to  have  entirely  fulfilled  the 
Southern  Methodist's  ideal  of  the  pattern  wife  absorbed  in  her  hus- 
band.) Four  hundred  of  the  preachers  of  her  own  faith  were  fed  at 
her  table  (what  a  pity  we  have  not  their  opinion  of  their  benefactor!). 
Elijah  was  the  preacher  of  a  new  and  rival  religion,  which  Jezebel, 
naturally,  regarded  with  that  same  abhorrence  which  the  established 
always  feel  for  the  innovating.  To  her,  Elijahism  doubtless  ap- 
peared as  did  Christianity  to  the  Jews,  Lutheranism  to  the  Pope,  or 
John  Wesleyism  to  the  Church  of  England;  but  in  the  days  of  the 
Israelites  the  world  had  not  developed  that  sweet  patience  with  her- 
esy which  animates  the  Andover  theologians  of  our  time,  and  Jezebel 
had  as  little  forbearance  with  Elijah  as  had  Torquemada  with  the 
Jews  or  Elizabeth  with  the  Puritans. 

Yet,  to  do  Jezebel  justice,  we  must  ask  ourselves,  how  did  the 
assumedly  good  Elijah  proceed  in  order  to  persuade  her  of  the  su- 
periority of  his  truth?  It  is  painful  to  have  to  relate  that  that  much- 
overestimated  "man  of  God"  invited  four  hundred  and  fifty  of  Jeze- 
bel's preachers  to  an  open  air  exhibition  of  miracles,  but,  not  satis- 
fied with  gaining  a  victory  over  them  in  this  display,  he  pursued  his 
defeated  rivals  in  religion,  shouting,  "Let  not  one  of  them  escape!" 
and  thus  roused  the  thoughtless  mob  of  lookers-on  to  slaughter  the 
whole  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  cold  blood!  Jezebel  had  signalized 
her  advent  as  queen  by  slaying  Israelitish  preachers  in  order  to  put 
her  own  preachers  in  office.  Elijah  promptly  retaliated  at  his  earliest 
opportunity. 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  puzzle  a  disinterested  person  to  de- 
cide which  of  those  savage  deeds  was  more  "satanic"  than  the  other, 
and  to  imagine  why  Jezebel  is  now  dragged  forth  to  "shake  her  gory 
locks"  as  a  frightful  example  to  the  American  women  who  ask  for 
recognized  right  to  self-government.    I  submit,  that  if  Jezebel  is  a 


76  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

disgrace  to  womankind,  our  dear  brethren  at  any  rate  have  not  much 
cause  to  be  proud  of  EHjah,  so,  possibly,  we  might  strike  a  truce  over 
the  character  of  these  two  long-buried  worthies.  It  may  be  well, 
though,  to  note  here  that  the  now  most  offensive  epithet  which  the 
English  translators  attached  to  Jezebel's  name,  originally  signified 
nothing  more  than  that  she  was  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  a  re- 
ligion, rival  to  that  which  ancient  Israel  assumed  to  be  "the  only  true 
one."  E.  B.  D. 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS. 


77 


Chapter  III. 


2  Kings  iv. 

I  Now  there  cried  a  certain  woman  of 
the  wives  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  unto 
Elisha,  saying,  Thy  servant  my  husband  is 
dead;  and  thou  knowest  that  thy  servant 
did  fear  the  Lord:  and  the  creditor  is  come 
to  take  unto  him  my  two  sons  to  be  bond- 
men. 

2  And  Elisha  said  unto  her,  What  shall  I 
do  for  thee?  tell  me,  what  hast  thou  in  the 
house?  And  she  said,  Thine  handmaid 
hath  not  anything  save  a  pot  of  oil. 

3  Then  he  said,  Go,  borrow  thee  vessels 
abroad  of  all  thy  neighbors, 

4  And  whea  thou  art  come  in,  thou  shalt 


shut  the  door  and  shalt  pour  out  into  all 
those  vessels,  and  thou  slialt  set  aside  that 
which  is  full. 

5  So  she  shut  the  door  and  poured  out. 

6  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  vessels 
were  full,  that  she  said  unto  her  son,  Bring 
me  yet  a  vessel.  And  he  said  unto  her. 
There  is  not  a  vessel  more.  And  the  oil 
stayed. 

7  Then  she  came  and  told  the  man  of 
God.  And  he  said,  Go,  sell  the  oil,  and  pay 
thy  debt,  and  live  thou  and  thy  children  of 
the  rest. 


THE  first  Book  of  Kings  had  an  illustrious  beginning  in  the  glor- 
ies of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  when  it  was  entirely  under  King 
David  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Solomon;  but  the 
second  book  has  a  melancholy  outlook  in  the  desolation  and  division 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  of  Judea.  Then  Elijah  and  Elisha,  their 
prophets,  instructed  the  princes  and  the  people  in  all  that  would  come 
to  pass,  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  good  reigns  of  Josiah  and  of  Hezekiah. 

This  book  contains  the  mention  of  four  women,  but  only  in  a  per- 
functory manner,  more  to  exhibit  the  accomplishments  of  the  prophet 
Elisha  than  his  beneficiaries.  He  raises  the  dead,  surpasses  our 
Standard  Oil  Company  in  the  production  of  that  valuable  article  of 
commerce,  cures  one  man  of  leprosy  and  cruelly  fastens  the  disease 
on  his  servant  for  being  guilty  of  a  pardonable  prevarication.  Only 
one  of  the  women  mentioned  has  a  name.  One  is  the  widow  of  a 
prophet,  whom  Elisha  helps  to  pay  ofif  all  her  debts;  for  another  he 
intercedes  with  the  Lord  to  give  her  a  son;  another,  is  the  little  cap- 
tive maid  of  the  tribe  of  Israel ;  and  the  last  a  wicked  queen,  Atha- 
liah,  who  sought  to  kill  the  heir  apparent.  She  rivalled  Jezebel  in  her 
evil  propensities  and  suffered  the  same  tragic  death. 


78 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


As  the  historian  proceeds  from  book  to  book  less  is  said  of  the 
mothers  of  the  various  tribes,  unless  some  deed  of  darkness  is  called 
for,  that  the  men  would  fain  avoid,  then  some  Jezebel  is  resurrected 
for  that  purpose.  They  are  seldom  required  to  rise  to  a  higher  moral 
altitude  than  the  men  of  the  tribe,  and  are  sometimes  permitted  to 
fall  below  it. 


2  Kings  iv. 

8  And  it  fell  on  a  day,  that  Elisha  passed 
to  Shunem,  where  was  a  great  woman ;  and 
she  constrained  him  to  eat  bread. 

9  And  she  said  unto  her  husband,  Behold 
now,  I  perceive  that  this  is  a  holy  man  of 
God. 

10  Let  us  make  a  little  chamber  on  the 
wall. 

11  And  it  fell  on  a  day  that,  he  came 
thither;  and  he  turned  into  the  chamber, 
and  lay  there. 

12  And  he  said  to  Gehazi  his  servant. 
Call  this  Shunammite.  And  she  came  and 
stood  before  him.  And  he  said.  Thou  shalt 
embrace  a  son.  And  she  said.  Nay,  thou 
man  of  God,  do  not  lie  unto  thine  hand- 
maid. 

17  And  the  woman  bare  a  son. 

18  And  when  the  child  was  grown,  he 
went  out  to  his  father  to  the  reapers. 

19  And  said.  My  head,  my  head!  And 
he  said  to  a  lad.  Carry  him  to  his  mother. 

20  And  when  he  had  brought  him  to  his 
mother,  he  sat  on  her  knees  till  noon,  and 
then  died. 

21  And  she  went  up,  and  laid  him  on  the 


bed  of  the  man  of  God,  and  shut  the  door 
upon  him,  and  went  out. 

24  And  she  saddled  an  ass,  and  said  to 
her  servant.  Drive;  slack  not  thy  riding, 
except  I  bid  thee. 

25  So  she  went  unto  the  man  of  God  to 
Mount  Carmel. 

32  And  when  Elisha  was  come  into  the 
house,  behold  the  child  was  dead. 

33  He  went  in  and  shut  the  door  and 
prayed  unto  the  Lord. 

34  And  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his 
mouth  upon  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon 
his  eyes,  and  his  hands  upon  his  hands; 
and  he  stretched  himself  upon  the  child; 
and  the  flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm. 

35  Then  he  walked  to  and  fro;  and  went 
up,  and  stretched  upon  him;  and  the  child 
sneezed  seven  times,  and  opened  his  eyes. 

36  And  he  called  Gehazi,  and  said,  Call 
this  Shunammite.  So  he  called  her.  And 
when  she  was  come  in  unto  him,  he  said. 
Take  up  thy  son. 

37  Then  she  fell  at  his  feet,  and  bowed 
herself  to  the  ground,  and  took  up  her  son. 


Elisha  seems  to  have  had  the  same  power  of  working  miracles 
which  Elijah  possessed.  In  his  travels  about  the  country  he  often 
passed  the  city  of  Shunem,  where  he  heard  of  a  great  woman  who 
was  very  hospitable  and  had  a  rich  husband.  She  had  often  noticed 
the  prophet  passing  by ;  and  knowing  that  he  was  a  godly  man,  and 
that  he  could  be  better  entertained  at  her  house  than  elsewhere,  she 
proposed  to  her  husband  to  invite  him  there.  So  they  arranged  an 
apartment  for  him  in  a  quiet  part  of  the  house  that  he  might  have 
opportunities  for  worship  and  contemplation. 

After  spending  much  time  under  her  roof,  he  naturally  desired  to 
make  some  recompense.  So  he  asked  her  if  there  was  anything  that 
he  could  do  for  her  at  court,  any  favor  which  she  desired  of  the  king. 


COMMENTS   ON  KINGS. 


79 


But  she  said  "no,"  as  she  had  all  the  blessings  which  she  desired,  ex- 
cept, as  they  had  great  wealth  and  no  children  to  inherit  it,  she  would 
like  a  son.  She  had  probably  heard  of  all  that  the  Lord  had  done 
in  that  line  for  Sarah  and  Rebecca  and  the  wives  of  Manoah  and 
Elkanah;  so  she  was  not  much  surprised  when  the  prophet  sug- 
gested such  a  contingency;  and  she  bare  a  son. 

In  due  time,  when  the  son  was  grown,  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill 
and  died.  The  mother  supposed  that,  as  by  a  miracle  he  was  brought 
into  life,  the  prophet  might  raise  him  from  the  dead.  Accord- 
ingly, she  harnessed  her  mule  and  hastened  to  the  prophet,  who 
promptly  returned  with  her  and  restored  him  to  life.  She  was  a  very 
discreet  and  judicious  woman  and  her  husband  had  always  entrusted 
everything  to  her  management.  She  was  devout  and  conscientious 
and  greatly  enjoyed  the  godly  conversation  of  the  prophet.  She 
was  known  in  the  city  as  a  great  and  good  woman.  Though  we  find 
here  and  there  among  the  women  of  the  Bible  some  exceptionally 
evil  minded,  yet  the  wise  and  virtuous  predominate,  and,  fortunately 
for  the  race,  this  is  the  case  in  the  American  Republic  to-day. 


2  Kings  V. 

1  Now  Naaman,  captain  of  the  hosts  of 
the  king  of  Syria,  was  a  great  man  with  his 
master,  and  honorable,  because  by  him  the 
Lord  had  given  deliverance  unto  Syria:  he 
was  also  a  mighty  man  of  valor,  but  he  was 
a  leper. 

2  And  the  Syrians  had  brought  away  cap- 
tive out  of  the  land  of  Israel  a  little  maid; 
and  she  waited  on  Naaman's  wife. 


3  And  she  said  unto  her  mistress,  Would 
my  lord  were  with  the  prophet  that  is  in 
Samaria!  for  he  would  recover  him  of  his 
leprosy. 

4  And  one  went  in  and  told  his  lord,  say* 
ing,  Thus  and  thus  said  the  maid  that  is  of 
the  land  of  Israel. 


Naaman,  a  Syrian  general  and  prime  minister,  was  a  great  man 
in  a  great  place.  He  was  happy,  too,  in  that  he  had  been  serviceable 
to  his  country  and  honored  by  his  prince.  But  alas!  he  was  a  leper. 
It  was  generally  supposed  that  this  was  an  affliction  for  evil  doing, 
but  Naaman  was  an  exceptionally  perfect  man. 

A  little  maid  from  Israel  had  been  carried  captive  into  Syria  and 
fortunately  was  taken  into  the  family  of  the  great  general,  as  an  at- 
tendant on  his  wife.  While  making  the  wife's  toilet  they  no  doubt 
chatted  quite  freely  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  outside  world.  So 
the  little  maid,  sympathizing  with  her  master  in  his  affliction,  told  the 


So 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


wife  there  was  a  prophet  in  Israel  who  could  cure  him  of  his  leprosy. 
Her  earnestness  roused  him  and  his  wife  to  make  the  experiment. 
But  after  loading  his  white  mules  with  many  valuable  gifts,  and  tak- 
ing a  great  retinue  of  soldiers  to  dazzle  the  prophet  with  Syrian  mag- 
nificence, the  prophet  did  not  deign  to  meet  him,  but  sent  word  to  him 
to  bathe  in  the  river  Jordan.  Even  a  letter  from  the  king  did  not 
■ensure  a  personal  interview.  So  the  general,  with  all  his  pomp,  went 
ofT  in  great  wrath.  "Are  not,"  said  he,  "the  rivers  of  Damascus, 
Abana  and  Pharpar,  greater  than  the  Jordan?  Cannot  all  the  skill  in 
Syria  accomplish  as  much  as  the  prophet  in  Israel?"  However,  the 
little  maid  urged  him  to  try  the  river  Jordan,  as  he  was  near  that 
point,  so  he  did  and  was  healed. 


3  Kings  via. 

Then  spake  Elisha  unto  the  woman, 
whose  son  he  had  restored  to  life,  saying, 
sojourn  wheresoever  thou  canst  for  a  fam- 
ine shall  come  upon  the  land  seven  years. 

2  And  the  woman  arose,  and  did  after 
the  saying  of  the  man  of  God: 

3  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  seven  years' 
end,  that  the  woman  returned  out  of  the 
land  of  the  Philistines:  and  she  went  forth 
to  cry  unto  the  king  for  her  house  and  land. 

4  And  the  king  talked  with  Gehazi  say- 
ing, Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  all  the  great 
things  that  Elisha  hath  done. 


5  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  was  telling; 
the  king  how  he  had  restored  a  dead  body 
to  life,  that,  behold,  the  woman  cried  to  the 
king  for  her  house  and  land.  And  Gehazi 
said,  My  lord,  O  king,  this  is  the  woman, 
and  this  is  her  son,  whom  Elisha  restored 
to  life. 

6  And  when  the  king  asked  the  woman, 
she  told  him.  So  the  king  appointed  unto 
her  a  certain  officer,  saying,  Restore  all  that 
was  hers,  and  all  the  fruits  of  the  field 
since  the  day  that  she  left  the  land,  even 
until  now. 


In  due  time  her  husband  died;  and  there  was  a  famine;  and  she 
went  for  a  season  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines;  and  when  she  re- 
turned she  could  not  recover  her  possessions.  Then  Elisha  be- 
friended her  and  appealed  to  the  king;  and  she  was  reinstated  in  her 
own  home. 

Elisha  was  very  democratic.  He  had  his  servant  sleep  in  his 
own  chamber  and  consulted  him  in  regard  to  many  important  mat- 
ters. Gehazi  never  forgot  his  place  but  once,  when  he  ran  after  the 
great  Syrian  general  to  ask  for  the  valuable  presents  which  the 
prophet  had  declined.  Both  Elijah  and  Elisha  preferred  to  do  their 
missionary  work  among  the  common  people,  finding  them  more 
teachable  and  superstitious.  Especially  is  this  true  of  woman  at  all 
periods.    In  great  revival  seasons  in  our  own  day,  one  will  always 


COMMENTS   ON   KINGS. 


8i 


see  a  dozen  women  on  the  anxious  seat  to  one  man,  and  the  same 
at  the  communion  table. 


2  Kings  xi. 

And  when  Athaliah  the  mother  of  Aha- 
ziah  saw  that  her  son  was  dead,  she  arose 
and  destroyed  all  the  seed  royal- 

2  But  Jehosheba,  sister  of  Ahaziah,  took 
Joash  the  son  of  Ahaziah,  and  stole  him 
from  among  the  king's  sons  which  were 
slain;  and  they  hid  him  and  his  nurse. 

3  And  he  was  with  her  hid  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord  six  years.  And  Athaliah  did 
reign  over  the  land. 

12  And  Jehoiada  the  priest  brought  forth 
the  king's  son,  and  put  the  crown  upon 
him;  and  they  made  him  king,  and  anoint- 


ed him;  and  they  clapped  their  hands,  and 
said,  God  save  the  king. 

13  And  when  Athaliah  heard  the  noise  of 
the  guard  and  of  the  people,  she  came  into 
the  temple  of  the   Lord. 

14  And  when  she  looked,  heboid,  the  k'ng 
stood  by  a  pillar;  and  she  rent  hei  clothes 
and  cried.  Treason,  treason. 

20  And  they  slew  Athaliah  with  tht  /otd 
beside  the  king's  house. 

21  Seven  years  old  was  Jehoash  when  he 
began  to  reign. 


Never  was  royal  blood  more  profusely  shed,  and  never  a  meaner 
ambition  than  to  destroy  a  reigning  family  in  order  to  be  the  last  oc- 
cupant on  the  throne.  The  daughter  of  a  king,  the  wife  of  a  king, 
and  the  mother  of  a  king,  should  have  had  some  mercy  on  her  family 
descendants.  Personal  ambition  can  never  compensate  for  the  loss 
of  the  love  and  companionship  of  kindred.  Such  characters  as 
Athaliah  are  abnormal,  their  lives  not  worth  recording. 


2  Kings  xxii. 

11  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king 
had  heard  the  words  of  the  book  of  the  law, 
that  he  rent  his  clothes. 

12  And  the  king  commanded  Hilkiah  the 
priest, 

13  Go  ye,  inquire  of  the  Lord  for  me,  and 
for  the  people,  and  for  all  Judah,  concern- 
ing the  words  of  this  book  that  is  found: 
for  great  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  that  is 
kindled  against  us,  because  our  fathers  have 
not  hearkened  unto  the  words  of  this  book, 
to  do  according  unto  all  that  which  is  writ- 
ten concerning  us. 

14  So  Hilkiah  the  priest,  and  the  wise 
men  went  unto  Huldah  the  prophetess,  the 
wife  of  Shallum  keeper  of  the  wardrobe; 
(now  she  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  in  the  col- 
lege) ;  and  they  communed  with  her. 

15  Aid  she  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  Tell  the  man  that 
sent  you  to  me. 


16  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will 
bring  evil  upon  this  place,  and  upon  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  even  all  the  words  of 
the  book  which  the  king  of  Judah  hath 
read: 

17  Because  they  have  forsaken  me,  and 
have  burned  incense  unto  other  gods. 

18  But  to  the  king  of  Judah  which  sent 
you  to  inquire  of  the  Lord,  thus  shall  ye 
say  to  him, 

19  Because  thine  heart  was  tender,  and 
thou  hast  humbled  thyself  before  the  Lord, 
when  thou  heardest  what  I  spake  against 
this  place, 

20  Behold  therefore,  I  will  gather  thee 
unto  thy  fathers,  and  thou  shalt  be  gathered 
into  thy  grave  in  peace;  and  thine  eyes 
shall  not  see  all  the  evil  which  I  will  bring 
upon  this  place.  And  they  brought  the 
kin^;  word  again. 


The  greatest  character  among  the  women  thus  far  mentioned  is 
Huldah  the  prophetess,  residing  in  the  college  in  Jerusalem.     She 


82  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

was  a  statesman  as  well  as  a  prophetess,  understanding  the  true 
policy  of  government  and  the  Jewish  system  of  jurisprudence,  able 
not  only  to  advise  the  common  people  of  their  duties  to  Jehovah  and 
their  country,  but  to  teach  kings  the  sound  basis  for  a  kingdom. 
Her  wisdom  and  insight  were  well  known  to  Josiah  the  king;  "and 
when  the  wise  men  came  to  him  with  the  "Book  of  the  Law,"  to  learn 
what  was  written  therein,  Josiah  ordered  them  to  take  it  to  Huldah, 
as  neither  the  wise  men  nor  Josiah  himself  could  interpret  its  con- 
tents. It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  there  was  not  a  man  at  court  who 
could  read  the  book;  hence  the  honor  devolved  upon  Huldah.  Even 
Shallum  her  husband  was  not  consulted,  as  he  occupied  the  humble 
office  of  keeper  of  the  robes. 

While  Huldah  was  pondering  great  questions  of  State  and  Ec- 
clesiastical Law,  her  husband  was  probably  arranging  the  royal  but- 
tons and  buckles  of  the  household.  This  is  the  first  mention  of  a 
woman  in  a  college.  She  was  doubtless  a  professor  of  jurisprudence, 
or  of  the  languages.  She  evidently  had  other  gifts  besides  that  of 
prophecy. 

We  should  not  have  had  such  a  struggle  in  our  day  to  open  the 
college  doors  had  the  clergy  read  of  the  dignity  accorded  to  Huldah. 
People  who  talk  the  most  of  what  the  Bible  teaches  often  know  the 
least  about  its  contents.  Some  years  ago,  when  we  were  trying  to 
establish  a  woman's  college,  we  asked  a  rich  widow,  worth  millions, 
to  contribute.  She  said  that  she  would  ask  her  pastor  what  she 
ought  to  do  about  it.  He  referred  her  to  the  Bible,  saying  that  this 
book  makes  no  mention  of  colleges  for  women.  To  her  great  sur- 
prise, I  referred  her  to  2  Kings  xxii.  Both  she  and  her  pastor  felt 
rather  ashamed  that  they  did  not  know  what  their  Bible  did  teach. 
The  widow  gave  $30,000  soon  after  to  a  Theological  Seminary,  being 
more  interested  in  the  education  of  boys  and  in  the  promulgation  of 
church  dogmas,  creeds  and  superstitions,  than  in  the  education  of 
the  Mothers  of  the  Race  in  the  natural  sciences. 

Now,  women  had  performed  great  deeds  in  Bible  times.  Miriam 
had  helped  to  lead  Israel  out  of  Egypt.  Deborah  judged  them,  and 
led  the  army  against  the  enemy,  and  Huldah  instructed  them  in  their 
duties  to   the   nation.     Although   Jeremiah   and    Zephaniah   were 


COMMENTS  ON  KINGS.  83 

prophets  at  this  time,  yet  the  king  chose  Huldah  as  the  oracle.  She 
was  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  court,  and  resided  in  the  second  rank  of 
buildings  from  the  royal  palace.  Marriage,  in  her  case,  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  individual  freedom  and 
dignity.  She  had  evidently  outgrown  the  curse  of  subjection  pro- 
nounced in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  as  had  many  other  of  the  Jewish 
women. 

There  is  a  great  discrepancy  between  the  character  and  the  con- 
duct of  many  of  the  women,  and  the  designs  of  God  as  set  forth  in 
the  Scriptures  and  enforced  by  the  discipline  of  the  Church  to-day. 
Imagine  the  moral  hardihood  of  the  reverend  gentlemen  who  should 
dare  to  reject  such  women  as  Deborah,  Huldah  and  Vashti  as  dele- 
gates to  a  Methodist  conference,  and  claim  the  approval  of  God  for 
such  an  indignity. 

In  the  four  following  books,  from  Kings  to  Esther,  there  is  no 
mention  of  women.  During  that  long,  eventful  period  the  men  must 
have  sprung,  Minerva-like,  from  the  brains  of  their  fathers,  fully 
armed  and  equipped  for  the  battle  of  life.  Having  no  infancy,  there 
was  no  need  of  mothers.  As  two  remarkable  women  flourished  at 
the  close  of  one  period  and  at  the  dawn  of  the  other,  we  shall  make 
no  record  of  the  masculine  dynasty  which  intervened,  satisfied  that 
Huldah  and  Vashti  added  new  glory  to  their  day  and  generation — 
one  by  her  learning  and  the  other  by  her  disobedience;  for  "Resist- 
ance to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God."  E.  C.  S. 


THE  BOOK  OF  ESTHER. 


Esther  i. 

2  In  those  days  when  King  Ahasuerus 
sat  upon  the  throne  in  the  palace  at  Shu- 
shan, 

3  In  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  he  made 
i  feast  unto  all  his  princes  and  his  ser- 
■vants;  the  power  of  Persia  and  Media,  the 
nobles  and  princes  of  the  provinces  being 
before  him: 

4  When  he  shewed  the  riches  of  his 
glorious  kingdom  and  the  honor  of  his  ex- 
cellent majesty  many  days. 

5  And  when  these  days  were  expired, 
the  king  made  a  feast  unto  all  the  people 
that  were  present  in  Shushan  the  palace, 
both  unto  great  and  small,  seven  days,  in 
the  court  of  the  garden; 

6  Where  were  white,  green  and  blue 
hangings,  fastened  with  cords  of  fine  linen 
and  purple  to  silver  rings  and  pillars  of 
marble:  the  beds  were  of  gold  and  silver, 
upon  a  pavement  of  red,  and  blue,  and 
white,  and  black  marble. 

7  And  they  gave  them  drink  in  vessels  of 
gold,  and  royal  wine  in  abundance. 

9  Also  Vashti  the  queen  made  a  feast  for 
the  women  in  the  royal  house. 

ID  On  the  seventh  day,  when  the  heart 
of  the  king  was  merry  with  wine,  he  com- 
manded: 

11  To  bring  Vashti  the  queen  with  the 
crown  royal,  to  shew  the  people  and  the 
princes  her  beauty:  for  she  was  fair  to  look 
on. 

12  But  the  queen  Vashti  refused  to  come: 
therefore  was  the  king  very  wroth. 


13  Then  the  king  said  to  the  wise  men, 

15  What  shall  we  do  unto  the  queea 
Vashti  according  to  the  law? 

16  And  Memucan  answered,  Vashti  the 
queen  hath  not  done  wrong  to  the  king 
only,  but  also  to  all  the  people  that  are  ia 
the  provinces  of  the  king. 

17  For  this  deed  shall  come  abroad  unto 
all  women,  so  that  they  shall  despise  their 
husbands.  The  king  Ahasuerus  command- 
ed Vashti  the  queen  to  be  brought  in  be- 
fore him,  but  she  came  not. 

18  Likewise  shall  the  ladies  of  Persia  and 
Media  say  this  day  unto  all  the  king's 
princes,  which  have  heard  of  the  deed  of 
the  queen. 

ip  If  it  please  the  king,  let  there  go  a 
royal  command  from  him,  and  let  it  be 
written  among  the  laws  of  the  Persians  and 
the  Medes,  That  Vashti  come  no  more  be- 
fore king  Ahasuerus;  and  let  the  king  give 
her  royal  estate  unto  another  that  is  better 
than  she. 

20  And  when  the  king's  decree  shall  be 
published  throughout  his  empire,  all  the 
wives  shall  give  to  their  husband's  honor, 
both  to  great  and  small. 

21  And  the  saying  pleased  the  king  and 
the  princes;  and  the  king  did  accordingly 
to  the  word  of  Memucan: 

22  For  he  sent  letters  into  all  the  prov- 
inces, that  every  man  should  bear  rule  in 
his  own  house. 


THE  kingdom  of  Ahasuerus  extended  from  India  to  Ethiopia,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces,  an  over- 
grown kingdom  which  in  time  sunk  by  its  own  weight.     The 
king  was  fond  of  display  and  invited  subjects  from  all  his  provinces 

84 


COMMENTS   ON  ESTHER.  85 

to  come  by  turns  to  behold  his  magnificent  palaces  and  sumptuous 
entertainments. 

He  gave  two  great  feasts  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  one  to  the 
nobles  and  the  princes,  and  one  to  the  people,  which  lasted  over  a 
hundred  days.  The  king  had  the  feast  for  the  men  spread  in  the 
court  under  the  trees.  Vashti  entertained  her  guests  in  the  great 
hall  of  the  palace.  It  was  not  the  custom  among  the  Persians  for 
the  sexes  to  eat  promiscuously  together,  especially  when  the  king 
and  the  princes  were  partaking  freely  of  wine. 

This  feast  ended  in  heaviness,  not  as  Balshazzar's  with  a  hand- 
writing on  the  wall,  nor  like  that  of  Job's  children  with  a  wind  from 
the  wilderness,  but  by  the  folly  of  the  king,  with  an  unhappy  falling 
out  between  the  queen  and  himself,  which  ended  the  feast  abruptly 
and  sent  the  guests  away  silent  and  ashamed.  He  sent  seven  dif- 
ferent messages  to  Vashti  to  put  on  her  royal  crown,  which  greatly 
enhanced  her  beauty,  and  come  to  show  his  guests  the  majesty  of 
his  queen.  But  to  all  the  chamberlains  alike  she  said,  "Go  tell  the 
king  1  will  not  come;  dignity  and  modesty  alike  forbid." 

This  vanity  of  a  drunken  man  illustrates  the  truth  of  an  old 
proverb,  "When  the  wine  is  in,  the  wit  is  out."  Josephus  says  that 
all  the  court  heard  his  command;  hence,  while  he  was  showing  the 
glory  of  his  court,  he  also  showed  that  he  had  a  wife  who  would  do 
as  she  pleased. 

Besides  seven  chamberlains  he  had  seven  learned  counsellors 
whom  he  consulted  on  all  the  affairs  of  State.  The  day  after  the 
feast,  when  all  were  sober  once  more,  they  held  a  cabinet  council  to 
discuss  a  proper  punishment  for  the  rebellious  queen.  Memucan, 
Secretary  of  State,  advised  that  she  be  divorced  for  her  disobedience 
and  ordered  "to  come  no  more  before  the  king,"  for  unless  she  was 
severely  punished,  he  said,  all  the  women  of  Medea  and  of  Persia 
would  despise  the  commands  of  their  husbands. 

We  have  some  grand  types  of  women  presented  for  our  admira- 
tion in  the  Bible.  Deborah  for  her  courage  and  military  prowess; 
Huldah  for  her  learning,  prophetic  insight  and  statesmanship,  seated 
in  the  college  in  Jerusalem,  where  Josiah  the  king  sent  his  cabinet 
ministers  to  consult  her  as  to  the  policy  of  his  government;  Esther, 


86  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

who  ruled  as  well  as  reigned,  and  Vashti,  who  scorned  the  Apostle's 
command,  "Wives,  obey  your  husbands."  She  refused  the  king's 
orders  to  grace  with  her  presence  his  revelling  court.  Tennyson 
pays  this  tribute  to  her  virtue  and  dignity : 

"Oh,  Vashti!  noble  Vashti! 
Summoned  forth,  she  kept  her  state. 
And  left  the  drunken  king  to  brawl 
In  Shushan  underneath  his  palms." 

E.  C.  S. 


The  feast,  with  the  preliminary  exhibition  of  the  king's  magnifi- 
cent palace  and  treasures,  was  not  a  social  occasion  in  which  the 
king  and  the  queen  participated  under  the  same  roof.  The  equal 
dignity  of  woman  and  of  queen  as  companion  of  the  king  was  not 
recognized.  The  men  feasted  together  purely  as  a  physical  enjoy- 
ment. If  there  was  any  intellectual  feature  of  the  occasion  it  is  not 
recorded.  On  the  seventh  day,  when  appetite  was  satiated  and  the 
heart  of  the  king  was  merry  with  wine,  as  a  further  means  of  gratify- 
ing sensual  tastes  and  exhibiting  his  power,  the  king  bethought  him 
of  the  beauty  of  the  queen. 

The  command  to  the  chamberlains  was  to  bring  Vashti.  It  was 
such  an  order  as  he  might  have  sent  to  the  jester,  or  to  any  other 
person  whose  sole  duty  was  to  do  the  king's  bidding,  and  whose 
presence  might  add  to  the  entertainment  of  his  assemblage  of  men. 
It  was  not  an  invitation  which  anywise  recognized  the  queen's  con- 
descension in  honoring  the  company  by  her  presence. 

But  Vashti  refused  to  come  at  the  king's  command !  An  unpre- 
cedented act  of  both  wife  and  queen.  Probably  Vashti  had  had  pre- 
vious knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  king  when  his  heart  was 
merry  with  wine  and  when  the  physical  man  was  under  the  effects  of 
seven  day's  conviviality.  She  had  a  higher  idea  of  womanly  dignity 
than  placing  herself  on  exhibition  as  one  of  the  king's  possessions, 
which  it  pleased  him  to  present  to  his  assembled  princes.  Vashti  is 
conspicuous  as  the  first  woman  recorded  whose  self-respect  and 


COMMENTS   ON  ESTHER.  87 

courage  enabled  her  to  act  contrary  to  the  will  of  her  husband.  She 
was  the  first  "woman  who  dared." 

This  was  the  more  marked  because  her  husband  was  also  king. 
So  far  as  the  record  proves,  woman  had  been  obedient  to  the  com- 
mands of  the  husband  and  the  father,  or,  if  seeking  to  avoid  them, 
had  sought  indirect  methods  and  diplomacy.  It  was  the  first  ex- 
hibition of  the  individual  sovereignty  of  woman  on  record.  Except- 
ing Deborah  as  judge,  no  example  had  been  given  of  a  woman  who 
formed  her  own  judgment  and  acted  upon  it.  There  had  been  no 
exhibition  of  a  self-respecting  womanhood  which  might  stand  for  a 
higher  type  of  social  life  than  was  customary  among  men. 

Vashti  was  the  prototype  of  the  higher  unfoldment  of  woman 
beyond  her  time.  She  stands  for  the  point  in  human  development 
when  womanliness  asserts  itself  and  begins  to  revolt  and  to  throw 
ofif  the  yoke  of  sensualism  and  of  tyranny.  Her  revolt  was  not  an 
overt  act,  or  a  criticism  of  the  proceedings  of  the  king.  It  was 
merely  exercising  her  own  judgment  as  to  her  own  proceeding. 
She  did  not  choose  to  be  brought  before  the  assembly  of  men  as  an 
exhibit.  The  growth  of  self-respect  and  of  individual  sovereignty  in 
woman  has  been  slow.  The  sequence  of  Vashti's  refusal  to  obey  the 
king  suggests  at  least  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  law  has  been  made, 
as  it  has  down  to  the  present  day,  by  men  alone.  Woman  has  not 
been  consulted,  as  she  is  not  consulted  to-day  about  any  law,  even 
such  as  bears  especially  upon  herself,  but  was  and  is  expected  to 
obey  it. 

The  idea  of  maintaining  the  respect  of  women  and  of  wives  by 
worthiness  and  by  nobility  of  character  and  of  manner,  had  not  been 
born  in  the  man  of  that  day.  The  husband  was  to  be  held  an  au- 
thority.    His  superiority  was  his  power  to  command  obedience. 

"And  when  the  king's  decree  which  he  shall  make  shall  be  pub- 
lished throughout  all  his  empire,  all  the  wives  shall  give  to  their  hus- 
bands honour,  both  great  and  small." 

King  Ahasuerus  was  but  a  forerunner  of  the  more  modern  law- 
maker, who  seeks  the  same  end  of  male  rulership,  by  making  the  wife 
and  all  property  the  possession  of  the  husband.  That  every  living 
soul  has  an  inherent  right  to  control  its  life  and  activities,  and  that 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


woman  equally  with  man  should  enjoy  this  opportunity,  had  not 
dawned  upon  the  consciousness  of  the  men  of  the  times  of  Ahasuerus. 
Vashti  stands  out  a  sublime  representative  of  self-centred  woman- 
hood. Rising  to  the  heights  of  self-consciousness  and  of  self-re- 
spect, she  takes  her  soul  into  her  own  keeping,  and  though  her  posi- 
tion both  as  wife  and  as  queen  are  jeopardized,  she  is  true  to  the  Di- 
vine aspirations  of  her  nature.  L.  B.  C. 


Esther  it. 

After  these  things,  when  the  wrath  of 
king  Ahasuerus  was  appeased,  he  remem- 
bered Vashti,  and  what  she  had  done,  and 
what  was  decreed  against  her. 

2  Then  said  his  servants,  Let  there  be 
fair  young  virgins  sought  for  the  king: 

3  And  let  him  appoint  officers  in  all  the 
provinces  that  they  may  gather  together  the 
fair  young  virgins  unto  Shushan  the  pal- 
ace, 

4  And  let  the  maiden  which  pleaseth  the 
king  be  queen  instead  of  Vashti.  And  the 
thing  pleased  the  king;  and  he  did  so. 

5  Now  in  Shushan  the  palace  there  was 
a  certain  Jew,  whose  name  was  Mordecai. 

7  And  he  brought  up  Hadassah,  that  is, 
Esther,  his  uncle's  daughter;  for  she  had 
neither  father  nor  mother,  and  the  maid 
was  fair  and  beautiful;  whom  Moredcai, 
when  her  father  and  mother  were  dead, 
took  for  his  own  daughter. 


8  So  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king's 
commandment  was  heard,  and  when  many 
maidens  were  gathered  together,  that  Es- 
ther vv-as  brought  also  unto  the  king's 
house. 

II  And  Mordecai  walked  every  day  be- 
fore the  court  of  the  women's  house,  to 
know  how  Esther  did,  and  what  should  be- 
come of  her. 

17  And  the  king  loved  Esther  above  all 
the  women,  and  she  obtained  grace  and 
favour  in  his  sight;  so  that  he  set  the  royal 
crown  upon  her  head,  and  made  her  queen 
instead  of  Vashti. 

18  Then  the  king  made  a  great  feast,  even 
Esther's  feast;  and  he  made  a  release  to 
the  provinces,  and  gave  gifts,  according  to 
the  state  of  the  king. 


Esther  was  a  Jewess,  one  of  the  children  of  the  captivity,  an  or- 
phan whom  Mordecai  adopted  as  his  own  child.  She  was  beautiful, 
symmetrical  in  form,  fair  in  face,  and  of  rare  intelligence.  Her  wis- 
dom and  virtue  were  her  greatest  gifts,  "It  is  an  advantage  to  a 
diamond  even  to  be  well  set."  Mordecai  was  her  cousin-german 
and  her  guardian.  It  was  said  that  he  intended  to  marry  her;  but 
when  he  saw  what  her  prospects  in  life  were,  and  what  she  might  do 
as  a  favorite  of  the  king  for  his  own  promotion  and  the  safety  of  his 
people,  he  held  his  individual  affection  in  abeyance  for  the  benefit 
of  his  race  and  the  safety  of  the  king;  for  he  soon  saw  the  dishonest, 
intriguing  character  of  Haman,  whom  he  despised  in  his  heart  and 
to  whom  he  would  not  bow  in  passing,  nor  make  any  show  of  respect. 


COMMENTS   ON  ESTHER.  S9 


As  he  was  a  keeper  of  the  door  and  sat  at  the  king's  gate,  he  had 
many  opportunities  to  show  his  disrespect. 

He  discovered  a  plot  against  the  king's  Hfe  which  he  revealed  to 
Esther,  that,  in  due  time,  secured  him  promotion  to  the  head  of  the 
king's  cabinet.  But  in  the  meantime  Haman  had  the  ear  of  the 
king;  and  to  revenge  the  indignities  of  Mordecai,  he  decided  to  slay 
all  the  Jews  throughout  all  the  provinces  of  the  kingdom,  and  pro- 
cured an  edict  to  that  effect  from  the  king,  and  stamped  with  the 
king's  signet  ring  the  letters  that  he  sent  by  post  into  all  the  prov- 
inces. The  day  was  set  for  this  terrible  slaughter;  and  the  Jews 
were  fasting  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes. 

The  king  loved  Esther  above  all  the  women  and  had  made  her  his 
queen.  She  was  not  known  at  court  as  a  Jewess,  but  was  supposed 
to  be  of  Persian  extraction.  Mordecai  had  told  her  to  say  nothing 
on  that  subject.  Ahasuerus  placed  the  royal  crown  upon  her  head, 
and  solemnized  her  coronation  with  a  great  feast,  which  Esther 
graced  with  her  presence,  at  the  request  of  the  king.  She  profited 
by  the  example  of  Vashti,  and  saw  the  good  policy  of  at  least  making 
a  show  of  obedience  in  all  things.  Mordecai  walked  up  and  down 
past  her  door  many  times  a  day;  and  through  a  faithful  messenger 
kept  her  informed  of  all  that  transpired,  so  she  was  aware  of  the  plot 
Haman  had  laid  against  her  people.  So  she  made  a  banquet  for  the 
king  and  Haman,  and  told  the  king  the  eflfect  of  his  royal  edict  and 
letters  sent  by  post  in  all  the  provinces  stamped  with  his  ring.  She 
told  him  of  Mordecai's  faithfulness  in  saving  his  life;  that  she  and 
Mordecai  were  Jews,  and  that  it  was  their  people  who  were  to  be 
slain,  young  and  old,  women  and  children,  without  mercy;  that  all 
their  possessions  were  to  be  confiscated  to  raise  the  money  which  Ha- 
man promised  to  put  into  the  royal  treasury,  and  that  Haman  had 
already  built  a  gallows  thirty  feet  high  on  which  Mordecai  was  to  be 
hanged. 

Haman  trembled  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  who  ordered  him 
to  be  hanged  on  the  gallows  which  he  had  prepared  for  Mordecai; 
and  the  latter  was  installed  as  the  favorite  of  the  king.  The  family 
and  the  followers  of  Haman  were  slain  by  the  thousands,  and  the 
Jews  were  filled  with  gladness.     The  day  appointed  for  their  de- 


90  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

struction  was  one  of  thanksgiving.  They  appointed  a  certain  day 
in  the  last  month  of  the  year,  just  before  the  Passover,  to  be  kept  ever 
after  as  the  feast  of  Purim,  one  of  thanksgiving  for  their  deliverance 
from  the  vengeance  of  Haman.  Purim  is  a  Persian  word.  It  is 
not  a  holy  day  feast,  but  of  human  appointment.  It  is  celebrated  at 
the  present  time,  and  in  the  service  the  whole  story  is  told.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  this  feast  often  ends  in  gluttony. 

One  commentator  says  that  the  Talmud  states  that  in  the  feast 
of  Purim  a  man  may  drink  until  he  knows  not  the  difiference  be- 
tween "cursed  be  Haman"  and  "blessed  be  Mordecai."  If  the  Tal- 
mud means  that  he  may  drink  the  wine  of  good  fellowship  until  all 
feelings  of  vengeance,  hatred  and  malice  are  banished  from  the  hu- 
man soul,  the  sentiment  is  not  so  objectionable  as  at  the  first  blush 
it  appears.  There  is  one  thing  in  the  Jewish  service  worse  than 
this,  and  that  is  for  each  man  to  stand  up  in  the  synagogue  every 
Sabbath  morning  and  say:  "I  thank  thee,  O  Lord,  that  I  was  not 
born  a  woman,"  as  if  that  were  the  depth  of  human  degrada- 
tion. It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  thanksgiving  feast  of  the  Purim  has 
degenerated  in  many  localities  into  the  same  kind  of  a  gathering  as 
the  Irish  wake. 

In  the  history  of  Esther,  those  who  believe  in  special  Providence 
will  see  that  in  her  coming  to  the  throne  multitudes  of  her  people 
were  saved  from  a  cruel  death,  hence  the  disobedience  of  Vashti  was 
providential.  A  faith  "that  all  things  are  working  together  for 
good,"  "that  good  only  is  positive,  evil  negative,"  is  most  cheerful 
and  sustaining  to  the  believer.  I  have  always  regretted  that  the 
historian  allowed  Vashti  to  drop  out  of  sight  so  suddenly.  Perhaps 
she  was  doomed  to  some  menial  service,  or  to  entire  sequestration 
in  her  own  apartments.  E.  C.  S. 


The  record  fails  to  state  whether  or  not  the  king's  judgment  was 
modified  in  regard  to  Va.shti's  refusal  to  appear  on  exhibition  when 
his  wrath  abated.  But  the  decree  had  gone  forth,  and  could  not  be 
altered;  and  Vashti  banished,  no  further  record  of  her  fate  appears. 


COMMENTS   ON  ESTHER.  91 

The  king's  ministers  at  once  set  about  providing  a  successor  to 
Vashti. 

The  king  in  those  days  had  the  advantage  of  the  search  for  fair 
young  virgins,  in  that  he  could  command  the  entire  collection  within 
his  dominions.  The  only  consideration  was  whether  or  not  the 
maiden  "pleased"  him.  There  is  no  hint  that  the  maiden  was  ex- 
pected to  signify  her  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  king's  choice. 
She  was  no  more  to  be  consulted  than  if  she  had  been  an  animal. 
Her  position  as  queen  was  but  an  added  distinction  of  her  lord  and 
master. 

Esther,  the  orphaned  and  adopted  daughter  of  Mordecai  the  Jew, 
was  the  favored  maiden.  She  was  "fair  and  beautiful."  The  truth 
of  the  historic  record  of  the  men  of  those  days  is  indisputable.  Down 
to  the  present  the  average  man  sums  up  his  estimate  of  woman  by 
her  "looks."  Is  she  fair  to  look  upon  is  the  criterion.  Esther  was 
destined  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  salvation  of  her  people 
from  the  destructive  purposes  of  Haman,  who  had  been  "set  above 
all  the  princes  who  were  with  him."  This  young  woman,  who  had 
been  crowned  by  her  royal  master  because  she  "pleased"  him,  was 
called  upon  by  the  peril  of  her  people,  whom  Haman  was  seeking 
to  destroy,  to  place  her  own  life  in  jeopardy,  by  venturing  to  obtain 
audience  with  the  king,  without  having  been  summoned  into  his 
presence. 

When  Esther  received  from  Mordecai  the  assurance,  "Think  not 
with  thyself  that  thou  shalt  escape  in  the  king's  house  more  than  all 
the  Jews,"  he  asked,  "Who  knoweth,  whether  thou  art  come  to  the 
kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this?"  then  this  young  woman  rose  to 
the  extremity  of  the  situation.  She  exercised  a  high  degree  of  wis- 
dom and  courage,  and  bade  them  return  Mordecai  this  answer: 

Go  gather  together  all  the  Jews  that  are  present  in  Shushan,  and 
fast  ye  for  me,  and  neither  eat  nor  drink  three  days,  night  or  day;  I 
also  and  my  maidens  will  fast  likewise;  and  so  will  I  go  in  unto  the 
king,  which  is  not  according  to  the  law;  and  if  I  perish,  I  perish. — 
Vs.  15,  16. 

She  prepared  herself  thus  by  fasting  to  receive  and  to  exercise 
the  power  of  spirit.     Her  high  purpose  was  only  equalled  by  her 


92  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

unfaltering  courage  and  entire  self-abnegation.  Vashti  had  exer- 
cised heroic  courage  in  asserting  womanly  dignity  and  the  inherent 
human  right  never  recognized  by  kingship,  to  choose  whether  to 
please  and  to  obey  the  king,  Esther,  so  as  to  save  her  people  from 
destruction,  risked  her  life. 

This  King  Ahasuerus,  who,  according  to  the  record,  was  only  a 
man  of  selfish  purposes,  delighting  in  power  and  given  to  the  en- 
joyment of  his  passions,  was  the  legal  lord  and  master  of  two  women, 
each  distinguished  by  a  nobility  of  character  well  worthy  of  the  dis- 
tinction of  queen.  Their  royalty  was  of  a  higher  order  than  that  of 
sceptres  and  of  crowns.  While  we  rejoice  in  the  higher  manhood 
which  the  centuries  have  evolved,  we  are  in  this  hour  reminded  of 
the  dominating  disposition  of  King  Ahasuerus  and  the  habits  of 
those  times.  A  distinguished  man  and  a  scholar  in  this  closing 
nineteenth  century  claims  that  "the  family  is  necessarily  a  despot- 
ism," and  that  man  is  the  "ruler  of  the  household." 

Women  as  queenly,  as  noble  and  as  self-sacrificing  as  was 
Esther,  as  self-respecting  and  as  brave  as  was  Vashti,  are  hampered 
in  their  creative  office  by  the  unjust  statutes  of  men;  but  God  is 
marching  on;  and  it  is  the  seed  of  woman  which  is  to  bruise  the 
head  of  the  serpent.  It  is  not  man's  boasted  superiority  of  intellect 
through  which  the  eternally  working  Divine  power  will  perfect  the 
race,  but  the  receptiveness  and  the  love  of  woman.  L.  B.  C. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Job  i. 

There  was  a  man  in  the  land  of  Uz, 
whose  name  was  Job;  and  that  man  was 
perfect  and  upright,  and  one  that  feared 
God. 

2  And  there  were  born  unto  him  seven 
sons  and  three  daughters. 

3  His  substance  also  was  seven  thou- 
sand sheep,  and  three  thousand  camels,  and 
five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five  hun- 
dred she  asses,  and  a  very  great  household; 
so  that  this  man  was  the  greatest  of  all  the 
men  of  the  east. 

4  And  his  sons  feasted  in  their  houses; 
and  sent  and  called  for  their  three  sisters 
to  eat  with  them. 

6  Now  there  was  a  day  when  the  sons 
of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before 
the  Lord,  and  Satan  came  also. 

7  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Whence 
comest  thou?  Satan  answered.  From  going 
to  and  fro  in  the  earth. 

8  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast 
thou  considered  my  servant  Job,  that  there 
is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and 
an  upright  man. 

9  Then  Satan  answered.  Doth  Job  fear 
God  for  nought? 

10  Hast  not  thou  made  a  hedge  about 
him,  and  about  his  house,  and  about  all 
that  he  hath  on  every  side?  thou  hast 
blessed  the  work  of  his  hands. 

11  But  put  forth  thine  hand  now,  and 
touch  all  that  he  hath,  and  he  will  curse 
thee  to  thy  face. 

12  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  all  that 
he  hath  is  in  thy  power:  only  upon  himself 
put  not  forth  thine  hand.  So  Satan  went 
forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

14  And  there  came  a  messenger  unto  Job, 
and  said.  The  oxen  were  ploughing,  and 
the  asses  feeding  beside  them: 

15  And  the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them,  and 
took  them  away;  yea,  they  have  slain  the 
servants. 

16  There  came  another,  and  said,  fire  is 
fallen  from  heaven,  and  hath  burned  up 
the  sheep. 


17  There  came  also  another,  and  said, 
The  Chaldeans  fell  upon  the  camels,  and 
have  carried  them  away. 

18  There  came  also  another,  and  said, 
Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  were  eating 
and  drinking. 

19  And,  behold  there  came  a  great  wind 
and  smote  the  four  corners  of  the  house, 
and  it  fell  upon  the  young  men,  and  they 
are  dead. 

20  Then  Job  arose,  and  rent  his  mantle, 
and  shaved  his  head,  and  fell  down  upon 
the  ground,  and  worshiped. 

Job  ii. 

9  Then  said  his  wife  unto  him.  Dost  thou 
still  retain  thine  integrity?  curse  God  and 
die. 

10  But  he  said  unto  her.  Thou  speakest 
as  one  of  the  foolish  women  speaketh. 
What?  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand 
of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil? 

Job  xlii. 

11  Then  came  there  unto  him  his  breth- 
ren, and  his  sisters,  and  they  that  had  been 
of  his  acquaintance  before,  and  did  eat 
bread  with  him  in  his  house:  and  they  com- 
forted him  over  all  the  evil  that  the  Lord 
had  brought  upon  him:  every  man  also 
gave  him  a  piece  of  money,  and  every  one 
an  earring  of  gold. 

12  So  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of 
Job  more  than  his  beginning;  for  he  had 
fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six  thousand 
camels,  and  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a 
thousand  she  asses. 

13  He  had  also  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

15  And  in  all  the  land  were  no  women 
found  so  fair  as  the  daughters  of  Job;  and 
their  father  gave  them  inheritance  among 
their  brethren. 

16  After  this  lived  Job  a  hundred  and 
forty  years. 

17  So  Job  died,  being  old  and  full  of 
days. 


THE  Book  of  Job  opens  with  an  imaginary  discussion  between  the 
Lord  and  Satan  as  to  the  true  character  of  Job.     Satan  hates 

him  because  he  is  good,  and  envies  him  because  he  is  a  favorite 

93 


94  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

of  the  Lord,  who  expresses  unbounded  faith  in  his  steadfastness  to  re- 
ligious principles.  Satan  replies  that  Job  is  all  right  in  prosperity, 
when  surrounded  with  every  comfort;  but  stripped  of  his  blessings, 
his  faith  in  a  superintending  Providence  would  vanish  like  dew  be- 
fore the  rising  sun.  The  Lord  said,  "You  may  test  Job.  I  give 
you  permission  to  do  your  worst  and  to  see  if  he  will  not  remain  as 
true  in  adversity  as  he  is  in  prosperity." 

The  Book  of  Job  is  an  epic  poem,  an  allegory,  to  show  the  grand 
elements  in  human  nature,  enabling  mortals  to  rise  superior  to  all 
trials  and  temptations,  to  the  humiliations  of  the  spirit,  and  to 
prolonged  suffering  in  the  flesh.  Though  illustrated  in  the  per- 
sonality of  a  man,  yet  the  principle  applies  equally  to  the  wisdom 
and  the  virtue  of  woman.  The  elements  of  Job's  goodness  and 
greatness  must  have  existed  in  his  mother.  But  little  is  said  of 
women  in  this  book;  and  that  little  is  by  no  means  complimentary. 
Job's  wife's  name  was  Dinah;  some  commentators  say  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  Jacob.  Satan  uses  her  as  the  last  and  most  subtle 
influence  for  the  downfall  of  his  victim.  Between  the  two  forces 
of  good  and  of  evil,  the  triumph  of  the  spiritual  nature  over  the 
temptations  of  the  flesh,  the  god-like  in  the  human,  was  thoroughly 
proven.  Job  is  represented  as  a  great  man.  He  has  wealth,  in- 
flexible integrity  and  a  charming  family  life,  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters,  immense  herds  of  oxen,  sheep,  asses,  camels,  and  ser- 
vants without  number. 

The  spirit  of  evil,  to  test  his  faithfulness,  strips  him  of  all  his  pos- 
sessions. In  one  day  Job's  houses  were  destroyed,  his  lands  made 
desolate,  his  cattle  stolen  and  his  children  carried  ofY  in  a  whirlwind. 
Job  was  stunned  by  these  calamities.  He  put  on  sackcloth,  shaved 
his  head,  as  was  the  custom,  and  calmly  accepted  the  situation ;  and 
his  faith  in  the  goodness  of  God  remained.  Then  the  spirit  of  evil, 
to  test  him  still  further,  afflicted  him  with  a  terrible  disease,  loath- 
some to  endure  and  pitiful  to  behold.  His  three  friends,  Eliphaz, 
Bildad  and  Zophar,  mocked  him  in  his  misery. 

His  last  affliction  was  the  disgust  of  his  wife.  She  ridiculed  his 
faith  in  God,  and  scoffed  at  his  piety,  as  Michal  did  at  David.  She 
was  spared  to  be  his  last  tempter  when  all  his  comforts  were  taken 
away.     She  bantered  him  for  his  constancy,  "Dost  thou  still  main- 


COMMENTS   ON  JOB.  95 


tain  thy  confidence  in  the  God  who  has  punished  thee?  Why  dost 
thou  be  so  obstinate  in  thy  religion,  which  serves  no  good  to  thee? 
Why  truckle  to  a  God  who,  so  far  from  rewarding  thy  services  with 
marks  of  his  favor,  seems  to  take  pleasure  in  making  thee  miserable 
and  scourges  thee  without  any  provocation?  Is  this  a  God  to  be 
still  loved  and  served?  'Curse  God  and  die.'"  She  urges  him  to 
commit  suicide.  Better  to  die  at  once  than  to  endure  his  life  of  lin- 
gering misery. 

Deserted  by  wife,  by  friends,  and,  seemingly  by  God,  too.  Job's 
faith  wavered  not.  The  spirit  of  evil  had  done  its  worst.  Man  had 
proven  his  Divine  origin,  himself  the  incarnation  of  the  great  Spirit 
of  Good;  and  now  that  Job  had  proved  himself  superior  to  all  hu- 
man calamities,  he  is  restored  to  health;  and  all  his  earthly  pos- 
sessions are  returned  fourfold. 

Nothing  more  is  said  of  his  first  wife,  but  his  ten  children  are 
restored.  The  names  of  his  three  daughters  are  significant,  though 
not  euphonious:  Jemima,  the  day,  because  of  Job's  prosperity; 
Kezia,  a  spice,  because  he  was  healed,  and  Karen-Happuch,  plenty 
restored.  God  adorned  them  with  great  beauty,  no  women  being  so 
fair  as  were  the  daughters  of  Job.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  often 
find  women  praised  for  their  beauty ;  but  in  the  New  Testament  we 
find  no  notice  of  physical  charms,  not  even  in  the  Virgin  Mary  her- 
self. Job  gave  to  his  daughters  an  equal  inheritance  with  his  sons. 
It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  the  brothers  paid  them  marked  attention, 
and  always  invited  them  to  their  dinners,  and  that  his  ten  children 
were  reproduced  just  as  his  flocks  and  his  herds  had  been. 

Much  more  sympathy  has  been  expressed  by  women  for  the 
wife,  than  for  Job,  Poor  woman,  she  had  scraped  lint,  nursed  him 
and  waited  on  him  to  the  point  of  nervous  exhaustion — no  wonder 
that  she  was  resigned  to  see  him  pass  to  Abraham's  bosom.  Job 
lived  one  hundred  and  forty  years.  Some  conjecture  that  he  was 
seventy  years  old  when  his  calamities  came  upon  him,  so  that  his 
age  was  doubled  with  his  other  blessings.  Whether  Dinah  lived  to 
cheer  Job's  declining  years,  or  whether  she  was  lured  by  Satan  to 
his  kingdom,  does  not  appear;  but  he  is  supposed  to  have  had  a  sec- 
ond wife,  by  the  name  of  Sitis — the  probable  mother  of  the  second 
brood.  E.  C,  S. 


BOOKS    OF    PSALMS,  PROVERBS,  ECCLESIASTES 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


Psalms. 


Psalms  xlv. 

9  Kings'  daughters  were  among  thy  hon- 
ourable women:  upon  thy  right  hand  did 
stand  the  queen  in  gold  of  Ophir. 

10  Hearken,  O  daughter,  and  consider, 
and  incline  thine  ear;  forget  also  thine  own 
people,  and  thy  father's  house; 

11  So  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy 
beauty:  for  he  is  thy  Lord;  and  worship 
thou.him. 

12  And  the  daughter  of  Tyre  shall  be 
there  with  a  gift:  even  the  rich  among  the 
people  shall  entreat  thy  favour. 


13  The  King's  daughter  is  all  glorious 
within:  her  clothing  is  of  wrought  gold. 

14  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the  King  in 
raiment  of  needlework:  the  virgins  her 
companions  that  follow  her  shall  be 
brought  unto  thee. 

15  With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they 
be  brought:  they  shall  enter  into  the 
King's  palace. 


THIS  book  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  David,  the  son  of 
Jesse,  called  the  sweet  psalmist  of  Israel,  He  had  a  taste  for 
the  arts,  a  real  genius  for  poetry  and  song.  Many  of  the 
poems  are  beautiful  in  sentiment  and  celebrated  as  specimens  of 
literature,  as  are  some  passages  in  Job ;  but  the  general  tone  is  pessi- 
mistic. David's  old  age  was  full  of  repinings  over  the  follies  of  his 
youth  and  of  his  middle  age.  The  declining  years  of  a  well-spent 
life  should  be  the  most  peaceful  and  happy.  Then  the  lessons  of  ex- 
perience are  understood,  and  one  knows  how  to  bear  its  joys  and 
sorrows  with  equal  philosophy.  Yet  David  in  the  twilight  of  his 
days  seemed  to  dwell  in  the  shadows  of  despair,  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes,  repenting  for  his  own  sins  and  bemoaning  the  evil  tendency 
of  men  in  general.  There  is  a  passing  mention  of  the  existence  of 
women  as  imaginary  beings  in  the  Psalms,  the  Proverbs,  and  The 

96 


COMMENTS   ON   PSALMS   AND   PROVERBS. 


97 


Song  of  Solomon,  but  not  illustrated  by  any  grand  personalities  or 
individual  characters. 

Psalms  It. 

To  the  chief  Musician,  A  Psalm  of  David, 

when  Nathan  the  prophet  came  unto  him, 

after  he  had  gone  in  to  Bath-sheba. 

I  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  accord- 
ing to  thy  loving-kindness:  according  unto 
the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  blot 
out  my  transgressions. 


2  Wash    me    thoroughly    from    mine    in- 
iquity, and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

3  For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions: 
and  my  sin  is  ever  before  me. 


David's  treatment  of  Uriah  was  the  darkest  passage  in  his  life; 
and  to  those  who  love  justice  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  his  con- 
science troubled  him  for  this  act  to  the  end  of  his  days.  We  are  not 
told  whether  Bath-sheba  ever  dropped  a  tear  over  the  sad  fate  of 
Uriah,  or  suffered  any  upbraidings  of  conscience. 


Proverbs. 


ix.,  13  A  foolish  woman  is  clamorous: 
she  is  simple,  and  knoweth  nothing. 

xi.,  16  A  gracious  woman  retaineth  hon- 
our: and  strong  men  retain  riches. 

xiv.  Every  wise  woman  buildeth  her 
house:  but  the  foolish  plucketh  it  down 
with  her  hands. 

xvii.,  25  A  foolish  son  is  a  grief  to  his 
father  and  bitterness  to  her  that  bare  him. 

xix.,  14  House  and  riches  are  the  in- 
heritance of  fathers:  and  a  prudent  wife  is 
from  the  Lord. 

xxi.,  9  It  is  better  to  dwell  in  a  corner  of 
the  housetop,  than  with  a  brawling  woman 
in  a  wide  house. 

xxi.,  19  It  is  better  to  dwell  in  the  wil- 
derness, than  with  a  contentious  and  an 
angry  woman. 

xxvii.,  15  A  continual  dropping  in  a  very 
rainy  day  and  a  contentious  woman  are 
alike. 

xxx.,  21  For  three  things  the  earth  is  dis- 
quieted, and  for  four  which  it  cannot  bear: 

22  For  a  servant  when  he  reigneth ;  and 
a  fool  when  he  is  filled  with  meat; 

23  For  an  odious  woman  when  she  is 
married;  and  a  handmaid  that  is  heir  to  her 
mistress. 

xxxi.,  10  Who  can  find  a  virtuous  wo- 
man?   for  her  price  is  far  above  rubies. 


11  The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely 
trust  in  her. 

12  She  will  do  him  good  and  not  evil  all 
the  days  of  her  life. 

13  She  seeketh  wool,  and  flax,  and  work- 
eth  willingly  with  her  hands. 

16  She  considereth  a  field,  and  buyeth  it: 
with  the  fruit  of  her  hands  she  planteth  a 
vineyard. 

20  She  stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the 
poor. 

21  She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow;  for  all 
her  household  are  alothed  with  scarlet. 

22  She  maketh  herself  coverings  of  tap- 
estry; her  clothing  is  silk  and  purple. 

23  Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates, 
when  he  sitteth  among  the  elders  of  the 
land. 

24  She  maketh  fine  linen,  and  selleth  it. 
26  She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom ; 

and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness. 

28  Her  children  arise  up,  and  call  her 
blessed;  her  husband  also,  and  he  praiseth 
her. 

29  Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously, 
but  thou  excellest  them  all. 

30  Favour  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is  vain; 
but  a  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord,  shall 
be  praised. 


With  these  pen  pictures  of  the  foolish,  contentious  wife  contrasted 


98  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

with  the  more  gracious  woman,  surely  every  reader  of  common  sense 
will  try  to  follow  the  example  of  the  latter.  A  complaining  woman 
is  worse  than  a  leaky  house,  because  with  paint  and  putty  you  can 
stop  the  dropping ;  but  how  can  one  find  the  source  of  constant  com- 
plaints? 

Heretofore  Biblical  writers  have  given  to  us  battles,  laws,  his- 
tories, songs;  now  we  have  in  Solomon's  writings  a  new  style  in 
short,  epigrammatic  sentences.  The  proverb  was  the  most  ancient 
way  of  teaching  among  the  Greeks.  The  seven  wise  men  of  Greece 
each  had  his  own  motto  on  which  he  made  himself  famous.  These 
were  engraved  on  stone  in  public  places.  Thus  the  gist  of  an  argu- 
ment or  a  long  discussion  may  be  thrown  into  a  proverb,  in  which 
the  whole  point  will  be  easily  seen  and  remembered. 

Solomon's  idea  of  a  wise  woman,  a  good  mother,  a  prudent  wife, 
a  saving  housekeeper  and  a  successful  merchant,  will  be  found  in 
the  foregoing  texts,  which  every  woman  who  reads  should  have 
printed,  framed  and  hung  up  at  her  family  altar.  As  Solomon  had 
a  thousand  women  in  his  household,  he  had  great  opportunity  for 
the  study  of  the  characteristics  of  the  sex,  though  one  would  nat- 
urally suppose  that  wise  women,  even  in  his  day,  preferred  a  larger 
sphere  of  action  than  within  his  palace  walls.  Solomon's  opinion 
of  the  sex  in  general  is  plainly  expressed  in  the  foregoing  texts. 

Solomon  is  supposed  to  have  written  his  Song  when  he  was 
young,  Proverbs  in  middle  life,  and  Ecclesiastes  when  he  was  old. 
He  gave  admirable  rules  for  wisdom  and  virtue  to  all  classes,  to  men, 
to  women  and  to  children,  but  failed  to  practise  the  lessons  which  he 
taught. 


Ecclesiastes. 

This  book,  written  in  Solomon's  old  age,  is  by  no  means  com- 
forting or  inspiring.  Everything  in  life  seems  to  have  been  disap- 
pointing to  him.     Wealth,  position,  learning,  all  earthly  possessions 


COMMENTS   ON  ECCLESIASTES. 


99 


and  acquirements  he  declares  alike  to  be  "vanity  of  vanities  anc) 
vexation  of  spirit."  To  one  whose  life  has  been  useful  to  others 
and  sweet  to  himself,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  accept  these  pessimistic 
pictures  of  human  destiny. 


Eccles.  it. 

I  said  in  mine  heart,  I  will  prove  tliee 
with  mirth;  therefore  enjoy  pleasute:  and, 
behold,  this  also  is  vanity. 

4  1  made  nie  great  works ;  I  builded  me 
houses;  I  planted  me  vineyards: 

5  I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards. 

7  I  had  great  possessions  above  all  that 
were  in  Jerusalem  before  me: 

8  I  gathered  me  also  silver  and  gold  and 
particular  treasures:  I  gat  me  men  singers 
and  women  singers,  and  musical  instru- 
ments. 


10  And  whatsover  mine  eyes  desired  I 
kept  not  from  them,  I  withheld  not  my 
heart  from  any  joy. 

13  Then  I  saw  that  wisdom  excelleth 
folly,  as  far  as  light  excelleth  darkness. 

14  The  wise  man's  eyes  are  in  his  head; 
but  the  fool  walketh  in  darkness:  and  I 
myself  perceived  also  that  one  event  hap- 
peneth  to  them  all. 


This  constant  depreciation  of  human  dignity  and  power  is  very 
demoralizing  in  its  influence  on  character.  When  we  consider  the 
struggles  of  the  race  from  savagism  to  civilization,  all  the  wonderful 
achievements,  discoveries  and  inventions  of  man,  we  must  feel  more 
like  bowing  down  to  him  as  an  incarnation  of  his  Creator  than  de- 
ploring his  follies  like  "a  poor  worm  of  the  dust."  The  Episcopal  ser- 
vice is  most  demoralizing  in  this  view.  Whole  congregations  of  edu- 
cated men  and  women,  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  confessing 
themselves  "miserable  sinners,"  with  no  evident  improvement  from 
generation  to  generation.  And  this  confession  is  made  in  a  perfunc- 
tory manner,  as  if  no  disgrace  attended  that  mental  condition,  and 
without  hope  or  promise  of  a  change  from  that  unworthy  attitude. 


Eccles.  vii. 

26  And  1  find  more  bitter  than  death  the 
woman,  whose  heart  is  snares  and  nets,  and 
her  hands  as  bands:  whoso  pleaseth  God 
shall  escape  from  her;  but  the  sinner  shall 
be  taken  by  her. 

28  One  wise  man  among  a  thousand  have 


I  found ;  but  a  woman  among  all  those  have 
I  not  found. 

29  Lo,  this  only  have  I  found,  that  God 
hath  made  man  upright;  but  they  have 
sought  out  many  inventions. 


Solomon  must  have  had  a  sad  experience  in  his  relations  with 
women.  Such  an  opinion  is  a  grave  reflection  on  his  own  mother, 
who  was  so  devoted  to  his  success  in  the  world.  But  for  her  ambi- 
tion he  would  never  have  been  crowned  King  of  Israel.    The  com- 


too  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


mentators  vouchsafe  the  opinion  that  there  are  more  good  women 
tlian  men.  It  is  very  kind  in  some  of  the  commentators  to  give  us 
a  word  of  praise  now  and  then;  but  from  the  general  tone  of  the 
learned  fabulists,  one  would  think  that  the  Jezebels  and  the  Jaels 
predominated.  In  fact,  Solomon  says  that  he  has  not  found  one 
wise  woman  in  a  thousand. 


The  Song  of  Solomon. 

The  name  of  God  does  not  appear  in  this  Song,  neither  is  the  lat- 
ter ever  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  This  book  has  no  spe- 
cial religious  significance,  being  merely  a  love  poem,  an  epithala- 
mium,  sung  on  nuptial  occasions  in  praise  of  the  bride  and  the 
groom.  The  proper  place  for  this  book  is  before  either  Proverbs  or 
Ecclesiastes,  as  it  was  written  in  Solomon's  youth,  and  is  a  more 
pardonable  outburst  for  his  early  days  than  for  his  declining  years. 
The  Jewish  doctors  advised  their  young  people  not  to  read  this  book 
until  they  were  thirty  years  old,  when  they  were  supposed  to  be  more 
susceptible  to  spiritual  beauties  and  virtues  than  to  the  mere  attrac- 
tions of  face  and  of  form.  •J 

The  Church,  as  an  excuse  for  retaining  this  book  as  a  part  of 
"Holy  Scriptures,"  interprets  the  Song  as  expressive  of  Christ's 
love  for  the  Church;  but  that  is  rather  far-fetched,  and  unworthy 
the  character  of  the  ideal  Jesus.  The  most  rational  view  to  take  of 
the  Song  is,  it  was  that  of  a  luxurious  king  to  the  women  of  his 
seraglio.  E.  C.  S. 


BOOKS   OF   ISAIAH    AND    DANIEL, 
MICAH  AND  MALACHI. 


Isaiah. 

THE  closing  books  of  the  Old  Testament  make  but  little  men- 
tion of  women  as  illustrating  individual  characteristics.  The 
ideal  woman  is  used  more  as  a  standard  of  comparison  for  good 
and  for  evil,  the  good  woman  representing  the  elements  of  success 
in  building  up  the  family,  the  tribe,  the  nation,  as  a  devout  wor- 
shiper of  the  God  of  Israel ;  the  wicked  woman,  the  elements  of  de- 
struction in  the  downfall  of  great  cities  and  nations.  As  woman  is 
chosen  to  represent  the  extremes  of  human  conditions  she  has  no 
special  reason  to  complain. 

The  Prophets  sum  up  the  graces  of  the  "daughters  of  men"  in 
the  following  texts : 


Isaiah  Hi. 

i6  Moreover  the  Lord  saith,  Because  the 
daughters  of  Zion  are  haughty,  and  walk 
with  stretched  forth  necks  and  wanton  eyes, 
walking  and  mincing  as  they  go,  and  mak- 
ing a  tinkling  with  their  feet: 

18  In  that  day  the  Lord  will  take  away 
the  bravery  of  their  tinkling  ornaments 
about  their  feet,  and  their  cauls,  and  their 
round  tires  like  the  moon, 

19  The  chains,  and  the  bracelets,  and  the 
mufflers, 


20  The  bonnets,  and  the  ornaments  of 
the  legs,  and  the  headbands,  and  the  tab- 
lets, and  the  earrings, 

21  The  rings,  and  nose  jewels, 

22  The  changeable  suits  of  apparel,  and 
the  mantles,  and  the  wimples,  and  the 
crisping  pins, 

23  The  glasses,  and  the  fine  linen,  and 
the  hoods,  and  the  vails. 


Before  the  sacred  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  written  there 
were  Prophets  who  took  the  place  of  Bibles  to  the  Church.  It  is 
said  that  God  himself  spake  to  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  top  of 
Mount  Sinai,  but  that  it  was  so  terrible  they  entreated  the  Lord  ever 
after  to  speak  to  them  through  men.     So  ever  after  he  did  com- 


101 


102 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


municate  with  them  through  Prophets  and  Angels.  Isaiah  was  of 
the  royal  family;  he  was  nephew  to  King  Uzziah.  The  Prophet  in 
the  above  texjs  reproves  and  warns  the  daughters  of  Zion  and  tells 
them  of  their  faults.  He  does  not  like  their  style  of  walking,  which 
from  the  description  must  have  been  much  like  the  mincing  gait  of 
some  women  to-day. 

The  Prophet  expressly  vouches  God's  authority  for  what  he  said 
concerning  their  manners  and  elaborate  ornamentation,  lest  they 
should  be  offended  with  his  criticisms.  If  the  Prophets  could  visit 
our  stores  and  see  all  the  fashions  there  are  to  tempt  the  daughters 
of  to-day,  they  would  declaim  against  our  frivolities  on  the  very 
doorsteps,  and  in  view  of  the  Easter  bonnets,  at  the  entrance  to  our 
churches.  The  badges  which  our  young  women  wear  as  members 
of  societies,  pinned  in  rows  on  broad  ribbons,  the  earrings,  the  ban- 
gles, the  big  sleeves,  the  bonnets  trimmed  with  osprey  feathers, 
answer  to  the  crisping  pins,  the  wimples,  the  nose  jewels,  the  tablets, 
the  chains,  the  bracelets,  the  mufflers,  the  veils,  the  glasses  and  the 
girdles  of  the  daughters  of  Zion.  If  the  Prophets,  instead  of  the 
French  milliners  and  dressmakers,  could  supervise  the  toilets  of  our 
women,  they  would  dress  in  far  better  taste. 


Daniel. 


The  name  of  this  Prophet  in  Hebrew  was  "Damil,"  which  signi- 
fies "the  judgment  of  God."  His  Chaldean  name  was  Bethshazzai. 
He  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  of  the  royal  family.  Josephus  calls  him 
one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Prophets. 


'  Daniel  v. 

Belshazzar  the  king  made  a  great  feast 
and  commanded  to  bring  the  golden  and 
silver  vessels  which  his  father  Nebuchad- 
nezzar "had  taken  out  of  the  temple  which 
was  in  Jerusalem;  that  the  king  and  his 
princes,  his  wives  and  his  concubines, 
might  drink  therein. 

3  Then  they  brought  the  golden  vessels, 
.  .  .  and  praised  the  gods  of  gold,  and 
of  silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of 
stone. 


5  In  the  same  hour  came  forth  fingers 
of  a  man's  hand,  and  wrote  over  against 
the  candlestick  upon  the  plaster  of  the 
wall:  and  the  king  saw  the  part  of  the  hand 
that  wrote. 

6  Then  the  king's  countenance  was 
changed,  and  his  thoughts  troubled  him,  so 
that  his  knees  smote  one  against  another. 

7  The  king  cried  aloud  to  bring  in  the 
astrologers,  the  Chaldeans,  and  the  sooth- 
sayers.    And  the  king  spoke,  and  said  to 


COMMENTS   ON  DANIEL. 


10.1 


the  wise  men  of  Babylon,  Whosoever  shall 
read  this  writing,  and  shew  me  the  inter- 
pretation thereof,  shall  be  clothed  with 
scarlet,  and  have  a  chain  of  gold  about  his 
neck,  and  shall  be  the  third  ruler  in  the 
kingdom. 

8  Then  came  in  all  the  king's  wise  men: 
but  they  could  not  read  the  writing,  nor 
make  known  the  interpretation  thereof. 

10  Now  the  queen  came  into  the  ban- 
quet house,  and  said,  O  king,  live  forever: 
let  not  thy  thoughts  trouble  thee. 

11  There  is  a  man  in  thy  kingdom  in 
whom  is  the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods;  and  in 
the  days  of  thy  father  light  and  under- 
standing and  wisdom,  like  the  wisdom  of 
the  gods,  was  found  in  him;  whom  Nebu- 
chadnezzar thy  father  made  master  of  the 
magicians,  astrologers,  Chaldeans  and 
soothsayers;  .  .  .  now  let  Daniel  be  called, 
and  he  will  shew  the  interpretation. 


13  Then  was  Daniel  brought  in;  and  he 
said,  I  will  read  the  writing  unto  the  king. 

25  And  this  is  the  writing  that  was  writ- 
ten, MENE,  MENE,  TEKEL,  UPHAR- 
SIN. 

26  This  is  the  interpretation  of  the  thing: 
MENE;  God  hath  numbered  thy  kingdom, 
and  finished  it. 

27  TEKEL;  Thou  are  weighed  in  the 
balance,  and  art  found  wanting. 

28  PERES;  Thy  kingdom  is  divided,  and 
given  to  the  Medes  and  Persians. 

29  Then  commanded  Belshazzar,  and  they 
clothed  Daniel  with  scarlet,  and  put  a 
chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  made  a 
proclamation  concerning  him,  that  he 
should  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 

20  In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the  king 
of  the  Chaldeans  slain. 


Historians  say  that  Cyrus  was  at  this  time  besieging  the  city  and 
knew  of  this  feast,  and  took  this  opportunity  to  make  his  attack  and 
to  slay  the  king. 

In  the  midst  of  the  consternation  at  the  feast  the  queen  entered 
to  advise  Belshazzar.  It  is  supposed  that  this  queen  was  the  widow 
of  the  evil  Merodach,  and  was  that  famous  Nitocris  whom  Herodotus 
mentions  as  a  woman  of  extraordinary  prudence  and  wisdom.  She 
was  not  present  at  the  feast,  as  were  the  king's  wives  and  concu- 
bines. It  was  not  agreeable  to  her  age  and  gravity  to  dissipate  at 
night;  but  tidings  of  the  consternation  in  the  banquet  hall  were 
brought  to  her,  so  that  she  came  and  entreated  him  not  to  be  dis- 
couraged by  the  incapacity  of  the  wise  men  to  solve  the  riddle;  for 
there  was  a  man  in  his  kingdom  who  had  more  than  once  helped  his 
father  in  emergencies  and  would  no  doubt  advise  him.  She  could 
not  read  the  writing  herself;  but  she  said,  let  the  Prophet  Daniel  be 
called.  The  account  she  gives  of  the  respect  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
for  him,  for  his  insight  into  the  deepest  mysteries,  and  of  his  good- 
ness and  wisdom,  moved  the  king  to  summon  Daniel  into  his  pres- 
ence. 

Daniel  was  now  near  ninety  years  of  age,  and  for  a  long  time  had 
not  been  in  court  circles;  but  the  queen  dowager  remembered  him 
in  the  court  of  the  king's  father.     She  reminded  her  son  of  the  high 


104 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  father.  The  interpretation  which 
Daniel  gave  of  these  mystic  characters  was  far  from  easing  the  king 
of  his  fears.  Daniel  being  in  years,  and  Belshazzar  still  young,  he 
took  greater  liberty  in  dealing  plainly  with  him  than  he  had  with  his 
father.     He  read  the  warning  as  written  on  the  wall : 

"Thou  hast  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting,  and 
thy  kingdom  is  divided  and  rent  from  thee." 

Although  the  exposition  of  the  handwriting  was  most  discourag- 
ing, yet  the  king  kept  his  promise,  and  put  on  Daniel  the  scarlet 
gown  and  the  gold  chain. 


MiCAH. 


Uicah  a. 

9  The  women  of  my  people  have  ye  cast 
out  from  their  pleasant  houses;  from  their 
children  have  ye  taken  away  my  glory  for- 
ever. 


Micah  vii. 

6  For  the  son  dishonoureth  the  father, 
the  daughter  riseth  up  against  her  mother, 
the  daughter  in  law  against  her  mother  in 
law. 


Here  the  Israelites  are  rebuked  for  their  cruel  treatment  of  their 
own  people,  robbing  widows  and  selling  children  into  slavery.  Fam- 
ily life  as  well  as  public  affairs  seems  to  have  become  unsettled.  The 
contempt  and  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  domestic  duties  are  a  sad 
symptom  of  universal  corruption. 


Malachi. 


Malachi  it. 

II  Judah  hath  profaned  the  holiness  of 
the  Lord  which  he  loved,  and  hath  married 
the  daughter  of  a  strange  god. 

14  Yet  ye  say,  Wherefore?  Because  the 
Lord  hath  been  witness  between  thee  and 
the  wife  oi  thy  youth,  against  whom  thou 


hast   dealt   treacherously:     yet   is   she   thy 
companion,  and  the  wife  of  thy  covenant. 

15  That  he  might  seek  a  godly  seed. 
Therefore  take  heed  to  your  spirit,  and  let 
none  deal  treacherously  against  the  wife  of 
his  youth. 


These  Israelites  were  always  violating  the  national  law  which 
forbade  them  to  marry  strange  women.     The  corruption  of  the  na- 


COMMENTS  ON  MICAH  AND  MALACHI.  105 

tion  began,  say  the  historians,  with  the  intermarriage  of  the  "sons  of 
God"  with  the  "daughters  of  men,"  meaning,  I  suppose,  those  of  the 
tribes  who  had  a  different  reHgion.  "He  that  marries  a  heathen 
woman  is  as  if  he  made  himself  son-in-law  to  an  idol."  They  put 
away  the  wives  of  their  own  nation,  and,  as  was  the  fashion  at  one 
time,  married  those  of  other  nations.  This  spoiled  the  lives  of  the 
daughters  of  Israel.  They  were  uncertain  as  to  their  social  rela- 
tions, family,  right  to  their  children,  and  support  in  their  old  age,  as 
a  paper  of  divorce  could  be  given  to  them  at  any  time.  The  de- 
nunciations of  the  Prophets  had  no  great  weight  in  matters  where 
strong  feeling  and  sound  judgment  conflicted. 

Charming  women,  of  the  Hittites  and  of  the  Midianites,  with 
their  novel  dress,  manners  and  conversation,  attracted  the  men  of 
Israel.  They  could  not  resist  the  temptation.  When  the  strong- 
est man  and  the  wisest  one  are  alike  led  captive,  there  is  no  signifi- 
cance in  calling  woman — "the  weaker  sex." 

Though  few  women  appear  in  the  closing  tragedies  of  the  Old 
Testament,  yet  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  sex  are  constantly  used  to 
point  a  moral  or  to  condemn  a  sin.  E.  C.  S. 


THE   KABBALAH. 


THE  Bible  is  an  occult  book,  and  a  remarkable  one.  About  all 
creeds  and  faiths  this  side  of  Pagandom  go  to  it  for  their  au- 
thority. Read  in  the  light  of  occult  teachings,  it  becomes 
something  more  than  the  old  battle  ground  of  controversy  for  warring 
religions.  Occultism  alone  furnishes  the  key  to  this  ancient  treasury 
of  wisdom.  But  to  turn  now  to  another  point,  it  may  be  well  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  readers  of  The  Woman's  Bible  to  a  few  quota- 
tions from  MacGregor  Mathers'  "Kabbalah  Unveiled,"  which  has 
been  pronounced  by  competent  authorities  the  work  of  a  master 
hand.  This  work  is  a  translation  of  Knorr  Von  Rosenroth's  "Kab- 
balah Denudata." 

The  Kabbalah — the  Hebrew  esoteric  doctrines — is  a  system  of 
teachings  with  which  only  the  very  learned  attempt  to  wrestle.  It 
is  claimed  to  have  been  handed  down  by  oral  tradition  from  angelic 
sources,  through  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  the  Seventy  Elders, 
to  David  and  to  Solomon.  No  attempt  was  made  to  commit  this 
sacred  knowledge  to  writing,  till,  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christ- 
ian era  (authorities  differ  widely  as  to  the  date)  the  pupils  of  Rabbi 
Simeon  ben  Joachi  put  his  teachings  into  writing;  and  this  in  later 
ages  became  known  as  the  "Zohar,"  or  "Book  of  Splendor."  Around 
the  name  of  this  Rabbi  Simeon  ben  Joachi,  as  one  scholarly  writer 
puts  it,  "cluster  the  mystery  and  the  poetry  of  the  religion  of  the 
Kabbalah  as  a  gift  of  the  Deity  to  mankind."  The  Zohar,  which  is 
only  a  part  of  the  Kabbalah,  is  the  great  store-house  of  the  esoteric 
teaching  of  the  ancient  Hebrews. 

Returning  to  the  quotations  referred  to  above,  MacGregor  Math- 
ers in  his  preface  says:  "I  wish  particularly  to  direct  the  reader's 
attention  to  the  stress  laid  by  the  Kabbalah  on  the  feminine  aspects 

106 


COMMENTS  ON   THE  KABBALAH.  107 

of  the  Deity,  and  to  the  shameful  way  in  which  any  allusion  to  these 
has  been  suppressed  in  the  ordinary  translations  of  the  Bible,  also 
to  the  Kabbalistical  equality  of  male  and  female." 

Referring  to  the  Sephiroth  (the  ten  Kabbalistical  attributes  of 
God),  Mr.  Mathers  says : 

"Among  these  Sephiroth,  jointly  and  severally,  we  find  the  de- 
velopment of  the  persons  and  the  attributes  of  God.  Of  these,  some 
are  male  and  some  are  female.  Now,  for  some  reason  or  other,  best 
known  to  themselves,  the  translators  of  the  Bible  have  carefully 
crowded  out  of  existence  and  smothered  up  every  reference  to  the 
fact  that  the  Deity  is  both  masculine  and  feminine.  They  have  trans- 
lated a  feminine  plural  by  a  masculine  singular  in  the  case  of  the  word 
Elohim.  They  have,  however,  left  an  inadvertent  admission  of  their 
knowledge  that  it  was  plural  in  Genesis  iv.,  26:  'And  Elohim  said: 
Let  US  make  man.' 

"Again  (v.,  2y),  how  could  Adam  be  made  in  the  image  of  the 
Elohim,  male  and  female,  unless  the  Elohim  were  male  and  female 
also?  The  word  Elohim  is  a  plural  formed  from  the  feminine  singu- 
lar ALH,  Eloh,  by  adding  IM  to  the  word.  But  inasmuch  as  IM  is 
usually  the  termination  of  the  masculine  plural,  and  is  here  added  to 
a  feminine  noun,  it  gives  to  the  word  Elohim  the  sense  of  a  female 
potency  united  to  a  masculine  idea,  and  thereby  capable  of  producing 
an  offspring.  Now  we  hear  much  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  but 
we  hear  nothing  of  the  Mother  in  the  ordinary  religions  of  the  day. 
But  in  the  Kabbalah  we  find  that  the  Ancient  of  Days  conforms  him- 
self simultaneously  into  the  Father  and  the  Mother,  and  thus  begets 
the  Son.     Now  this  Mother  is  Elohim." 

The  writer  then  goes  on  to  show  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  usually 
represented  as  masculine,  is  in  fact  feminine.  The  first  Sephira 
contained  the  other  nine,  and  produced  them  in  succession.  The 
second  is  Chokmah  (Wisdom),  and  is  the  active  and  evident  Father 
to  whom  the  Mother  is  united.  The  third  is  a  feminine  passive  po- 
tency called  Binah  (Understanding),  and  is  co-equal  with  Chokmah. 
Chokmah  is  powerless  till  the  number  three  forms  the  triangle. 

"Thus  this  Sephira  completes  and  makes  evident  the  supernal 
Trinity.     It  is  also  called  AMA,  Mother,  the  great  productive  Moth- 


io8  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


er,  who  is  eternally  conjoined  with  the  Father  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  universe  in  order.  Therefore  is  she  the  most  evident  form  in 
whom  we  can  know  the  Father,  and  therefore  is  she  worthy  of  all 
honor.  She  is  the  supernal  Mother,  co-equal  with  Chokmah,  and 
the  great  feminine  form  of  God,  the  Elohim,  in  whose  image  man 
and  woman  were  created,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Kabbalah, 
equal  before  God.  Woman  is  equal  with  man,  not  inferior  to  him,  as  it 
has  been  the  persistent  endeavor  of  so-called  Christians  to  make  her. 
Aima  is  the  woman  described  in  the  Apocalypse  (ch.  12)." 

"This  third  Sephira  is  also  sometimes  called  the  Great  Sea.  To 
her  are  attributed  the  Divine  names,  ALAIM,  Elohim,  and  laHVeh 
ALHIM;  and  the  angelic  order,  ARHLIM,  the  Thrones.  She  is 
the  supernal  Mother  as  distinguished  from  Malkuth,  the  inferior 
Mother,  Bride  and  Queen.  ...  In  each  of  the  three  trinities  or 
triads  of  the  Sephiroth  is  a  dual  of  opposite  sexes,  and  a  uniting  in- 
telligence which  is  the  result.  In  this,  the  masculine  and  feminine 
potencies  are  regarded  as  the  two  scales  of  the  balance,  and  the  unit- 
ing Sephira  as  the  beam  which  joins  them." 

In  chapter  viii.  we  read:  "Chokmah  is  the  Father,  and  Binah  is 
the  Mother,  and  therein  are  Chokmah  (Wisdom)  and  Binah  (Under- 
standing), counterbalanced  together  in  most  perfect  equality  of  Male 
and  Female.  And  therefore  are  all  things  established  in  the  equality 
of  Male  and  Female;  if  it  were  not  so,  how  could  they  subsist?  .  .  . 
In  their  conformations  are  They  found  to  be  the  perfections  of  all 
things — Father  and  Mother,  Son  and  Daughter.  These  things  have 
not  been  revealed  save  unto  the  Holy  Superiors  who  have  entered 
therein  and  departed  therefrom,  and  have  known  the  paths  of  the 
Most  Holy  God,  so  that  they  have  not  erred  in  them,  either  on  the 
right  hand  or  on  the  left." 

In  a  note  in  regard  to  Chokmah  and  Binah  the  author  says: 
"Chokmah  is  the  second  and  Binah  is  the  third  of  the  Sephiroth.  This 
section  is  a  sufificient  condemnation  of  all  those  who  wish  to  make 
out  that  woman  is  inferior  to  man." 

The  Kabbalah  also  speaks  of  the  separation  of  the  sexes  as  the 
cause  of  evil,  or  as  the  author  puts  it  in  a  note:  "Where  there  is  un- 
balanced force,  there  is  the  origin  of  evil."     Further  on  it  is  written: 


COMMENTS   ON   THE   KABBALAH.  109 

"And  therefore  is  Aima  (the  Mother)  known  to  be  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  things ;  and  She  is  signified  to  be  the  beginning  and  the 
end.  .  .  .  And  hence  that  which  is  not  both  Male  and  Female 
together  is  called  half  a  body.  Now,  no  blessing  can  rest  upon  a 
mutilated  and  defective  being,  but  only  upon  a  perfect  place  and 
upon  a  perfect  being,  and  not  at  all  in  an  incomplete  being.  And  a 
semi-complete  being  cannot  live  forever,  neither  can  it  receive  bless- 
ing forever." 

The  following  is  the  author's  comment  upon  the  above:  "This 
section  is  another  all-sufficient  proof  of  the  teachings  maintained 
throughout  the  Kabbalah,  namely,  that  man  and  woman  are  from 
the  creation  co-equal  and  co-existent,  perfectly  equal,  one  with  the 
other.  This  fact  the  translators  of  the  Bible  have  been  at  great  pains 
to  conceal  by  carefully  suppressing  every  reference  to  the  feminine 
portion  of  the  Deity,  and  by  constantly  translating  feminine  nouns 
by  masculine.     And  this  is  the  work  of  so-called  religious  men!" 

A  learned  Jewish  Rabbi^  with  whom  the  writer  is  acquainted, 
says:  "Those  who  write  on  the  Bible  must  be  very  careful  when 
they  come  to  speak  of  the  position  of  woman  to  make  a  clear 
distinction  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  In  the  Old 
Testament,  except  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,  woman  occupies 
a  true  and  a  dignified  position  in  society  and  in  the  family.  For  ex- 
ample, take  the  position  of  Sarah,  of  the  Prophetess  Miriam,  the  sis- 
ter of  Moses,  and  Deborah  the  Prophetess.  They  all  exemplify  the 
true  position  of  woman  in  the  Old  Testament.  While  Paul,  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  chief  writer  in  the  New  Testament, 
condemned  woman  to  silence  in  the  Church  and  to  strict  obedience 
to  her  husband,  making  her  thereby  inferior  to  the  man,  the  Old 
Testament  gave  free  scope  to  the  development  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
woman.  To  intensify  this  teaching  upon  the  position  of  woman,  we 
find  even  the  voice  of  the  Deity  telling  Abraham:  'Whatever  Sarah 
tells  thee,  thou  shalt  hearken  unto  her  voice,'  showing  that  woman  in 
her  own  home  was  the  guiding  power."  In  regard  to  another  point 
this  Rabbi  says:  "The  learned  Jewish  Rabbis  of  modern  times  do 
not  take  the  rib  story  literally.  And  this  may  be  said  of  many  of 
the  olden  times," 


no  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

The  Kabbalah  and  its  learned  expositors  may  be  said  to  be  "the 
throbbing  heart"  of  the  Jewish  religion,  as  was  graphically  said  of 
the  mystic  teachings  of  another  occult  fraternity.  And  in  view  of 
the  Kabbalah's  antiquity,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  the  fountain  head  of 
the  body  of  the  Old  Testament  teachings,  these  quotations  as  to  the 
real  Kabbalistic  teachings  in  regard  to  woman,  or  to  the  feminine 
aspects  of  the  Deity,  are  of  first-class  importance  in  such  a  book  as 
"The  Woman's  Bible."  In  Kabbalistic  teachings  "there  is  one  Trin- 
ity which  comprises  all  the  Sephiroth,  and  it  consists  of  the  crown, 
the  king  and  the  queen,  .  .  .  It  is  the  Trinity  which  created  the 
world,  or,  in  Kabbalistic  language,  the  universe  was  born  from  the 
union  of  the  crowned  king  and  queen." 

The  rib  story  is  veiled  in  the  mystic  language  of  symbolism.  Ac- 
cording to  occult  teachings,  there  was  a  time  before  man  was  differ- 
entiated into  sexes — that  is,  when  he  was  androgynous.  Then  the 
time  came,  millions  of  years  ago,  when  the  differentiation  into  sexes 
took  place.  And  to  this  the  rib  story  refers.  There  has  been  much 
ignorance  and  confusion  in  regard  to  the  real  nature  of  woman,  indi- 
cating that  she  is  possessed  of  a  mystic  nature  and  a  power  which 
will  gradually  be  developed  and  better  understood  as  the  world  be- 
comes more  enlightened.  Woman  has  been  branded  as  the  author 
of  evil  in  the  world ;  and  at  the  same  time  she  has  been  exalted  to  the 
position  of  mother  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  These  two  posi- 
tions are  as  conflicting  as  the  general  ideas  which  have  prevailed  in 
regard  to  woman — the  great  enigma  of  the  world. 

Theological  odium  has  laid  its  hand  heavily  upon  her.  "This 
odium,"  as  a  Rev.  D.  D.  once  said  to  the  writer,  "is  a  thing  with 
more  horns,  more  thorns,  more  quills  and  more  snarls  than  al- 
most any  other  sort  of  thing  you  have  ever  heard  of.  It  has 
kindled  as  many  fires  of  martyrdom;  it  has  slipnoosed  as  many  ropes 
for  the  necks  of  well-meaning  men;  it  has  built  as  many  racks  for 
the  dislocation  of  human  bones;  it  has  forged  as  many  thumb- 
screws; it  has  built  as  many  dungeons;  it  has  ostracised  as  many 
scholars  and  philosophers;  it  has  set  itself  against  light  and  pushed 
as  hard  to  make  the  earth  revolve  the  other  way  on  its  axis,  as  any 
other  force  of  mischief  of  whatever  name  or  kind." 


COMMENTS   ON   THE   KABBALAH.  ni 

And  that  is  the  fearful  thing  with  which  woman  has  had  to  con- 
tend. When  she  is  free  from  it  we  may  be  assured  that  the  dawn  of 
a  new  day  is  not  far  off.  And  among  the  indications  pointing  that 
way  is  the  fact  that  the  Bible  itself  has  been  "under  treatment"  for 
some  time.  What  is  known  as  the  "Higher  Criticism"  has  done 
much  to  clear  away  the  clouds  of  superstition  which  have  enveloped  it. 

One  of  the  latest  works  on  this  line  is  "The  Polychrome  Bible" — 
the  word  meaning  the  different  colors  in  which  the  texts,  the  notes, 
the  dates,  the  translations,  etc.,  are  printed  for  the  sake  of  simplifying 
matters.  Prof.  Paul  Haupt,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  is  at  the 
head  of  this  great  work,  ably  assisted  by  a  large  corps  of  the  best 
BibHcal  scholars  in  the  world.  It  is  not  to  be  a  revision  of  the  ac- 
cepted version,  but  a  new  translation  in  modern  English.  The  trans- 
lation is  not  to  be  literal  except  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  viz., 
"to  render  the  sense  of  the  original  as  faithfully  as  possible."  There 
are  to  be  explanatory  notes,  historical  and  archselogical  illustrations 
of  the  text,  paraphrases  of  difficult  passages,  etc.  In  short,  every- 
thing possible  is  to  be  done  to  simplify  and  to  make  plain  this  ancient 
book.  The  contributors  have  instructions  not  to  hesitate  to  state 
what  they  consider  to  be  the  truth,  but  with  as  little  offence  to  the 
general  reader  as  possible.  This  work  has  been  pronounced  the 
greatest  literary  undertaking  of  the  century — a  work  which  will  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  coming  generation  to  give  an  entirely  new  con- 
sideration to  the  religious  problem.  It  was  begun  in  1890,  and  will 
probably  not  be  completed  before  1900. 

Another  important  work,  small  in  actual  size  but  big  with  signifi- 
cance, has  just  been  issued  in  England  under  the  title  of  "The  Bible 
and  the  Child."  It  is  not,  as  its  name  might  imply,  a  book  for  chil- 
dren, but  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  "showing  the  right  way  of  presenting 
the  Bible  to  the  young  in  the  light  of  the  Higher  Criticism."  Its 
eight  contributors  are  headed  by  Canon  F,  W.  Farrar,  of  England, 
and  includes  a  number  of  noted  English  divines.  An  English  writer 
outside  of  the  orthodox  pale  says:  "It  is  one  of  the  most  extraordi- 
nary books  published  in  the  English  language.  It  is  small ;  but  it  is 
just  the  turning-scale  to  the  side  of  common  sense  in  matters  re- 
ligious.    The  Church  has  at  last  taken  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 


112  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

We  cannot  expect  it  to  set  off  at  a  gallop;  but  it  is  fairly  ambling 
along  on  its  comfortable  palfrey." 

The  advance  is  all  along  the  line ;  and  we  need  not  fear  any  retro- 
grade movement  to  the  past.  Canon  Farrar  says  that  the  manner 
in  which  the  Higher  Criticism  has  progressed  "is  exactly  analogous 
to  the  way  in  which  the  truths  of  astronomy  and  of  geology  have 
triumphed  over  universal  opposition.  They  were  once  anathema- 
tized as  'Infidel;'  they  are  now  accepted  as  axiomatic."  When  an 
official  of  the  Church  of  England  of  the  high  standing  of  Canon  Far- 
rar comes  out  so  boldly  in  the  interest  of  free  thought  and  free  criti- 
cism on  lines  hitherto  held  to  be  too  sacred  for  human  reason  to  cross, 
it  is  one  of  the  "signs  of  the  times,"  and  a  most  hopeful  one  of  the 
future. 

And  now  that  we  are  coming  to  understand  the  Bible  better  than 
to  worship  it  as  an  idol,  it  will  gradually  be  lifted  from  the  shadows 
and  the  superstitions  of  an  age  when,  as  a  fetich,  it  was  exalted  above 
reason,  and  placed  where  a  spiritually  enlightened  people  can  see  it 
in  its  true  light — a  book  in  which  many  a  bright  jewel  has  been  buried 
under  some  rubbish,  perhaps,  as  well  as  under  many  symbolisms 
and  mystic  language — a  book  which  is  not  above  the  application  of 
reason  and  of  common  sense.  And  with  these  new  lights  on  the 
Bible,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  at  the  same  time  that  the  stately  He- 
brew Kabbalah,  hoary  with  antiquity,  and  the  fountain  source  of  the 
Old  Testament,  places  woman  on  a  perfect  equality  in  the  Godhead. 
For  better  authority  than  that  one  can  hardly  ask. 

We  are  nearing  the  close  of  a  remarkable  century,  the  last  half 
of  which,  and  especially  the  last  quarter,  has  been  crowded  with  dis- 
coveries, some  of  them  startling  in  their  approximation  to  the  inner, 
or  occult  world — a  world  in  which  woman  has  potent  sway.  The 
close  of  this  century  has  long  been  pointed  to  by  scholars,  by  writers 
and  by  Prophets,  within  the  Church  and  out  of  it,  as  the  close  of  the 
old  dispensation  and  the  opening  of  the  new  one.  And  in  view  of 
the  rapid  steps  which  we  are  taking  in  these  latter  years,  we  can 
almost  feel  the  breath  of  the  new  cycle  fan  our  cheeks  as  we  watch 
the  deepening  hues  of  the  breaking  dawn.  F.  E.  B. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


"Great  is  Truth,  and  mighty  above  all  things." — i  Esdras,  iv.,  41. 


DOES  the  New  Testament  bring  promises  of  new  dignity  and  of 
larger  liberties  for  woman?  When  thinking  women  make 
any  criticisms  on  their  degraded  position  in  the  Bible,  Christ- 
ians point  to  her  exaltation  in  the  New  Testament,  as  if,  under  their 
religion,  woman  really  does  occupy  a  higher  position  than  under 
the  Jewish  dispensation.  While  there  are  grand  types  of  women 
presented  under  both  religions,  there  is  no  difference  in  the  general 
estimate  of  the  sex.  In  fact,  her  inferior  position  is  more  clearly 
and  emphatically  set  forth  by  the  Apostles  than  by  the  Prophets  and 
the  Patriarchs.  There  are  no  such  specific  directions  for  woman's 
subordination  in  the  Pentateuch  as  in  the  Epistles. 

We  are  told  that  the  whole  sex  was  highly  honored  in  Mary 
being  the  mother  of  Jesus.  Surely  a  wise  and  virtuous  son  is 
more  indebted  to  his  mother  than  she  is  to  him,  and  is  honored  only 
by  reflecting  her  superior  characteristics.  Why  the  founders  of  the 
Christian  religion  did  not  improvise  an  earthly  Father  as  well  as  an 
earthly  Mother  does  not  clearly  appear.  The  questionable  position 
of  Joseph  is  unsatisfactory.  As  Mary  belonged  to  the  Jewish  aris- 
tocracy, she  should  have  had  a  husband  of  the  same  rank.  If  a 
Heavenly  Father  was  necessary,  why  not  a  Heavenly  Mother?  If 
an  earthly  Mother  was  admirable,  why  not  not  an  earthly  Father? 
The  Jewish  idea  that  Jesus  was  born  according  to  natural  law  is 
more  rational  than  is  the  Christian  record  of  the  immaculate  concep- 
tion by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  third  person  of  the  Trinity.  These 
Biblical  mysteries  and  inconsistencies  are  a  great  strain  on  the 
credulity  of  the  ordinary  mind.  E.  C.  S. 

us 


114  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


Jesus  was  the  great  leading  Radical  of  his  age.  Everything  that 
he  was  and  said  and  did  alienated  and  angered  the  Conservatives, 
those  that  represented  and  stood  for  the  established  order  of  what 
they  believed  to  be  the  fixed  and  final  revelation  of  God,  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  they  procured  his  death?  They  had  no  power  to  put 
him  to  death  themselves,  and  so  they  stirred  the  suspicions  of  the 
Roman  authorities. 

We  owe  the  conquest  of  Christianity  to  two  things.  First,  to 
Paul.  Christianity  never  would  have  been  anything  but  a  little 
Jewish  sect  if  it  had  not  been  for  Paul.  And  the  other  thing  is — 
what?  The  conquest  over  death.  It  was  the  abounding  belief  of 
the  disciples  that  Jesus  was  alive,  their  leader  still,  though  in  the  in- 
visible, which  made  them  laugh  in  the  face  of  death,  which  made 
them  fearless  in  the  presence  of  the  lions  in  the  arena,  which  made 
them  seek  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  martyrdom,  and  which  gave 
them  such  conquest  over  all  fear,  all  sorrow,  all  toil,  as  can  come 
only  to  those  who  believe  that  this  life  is  merely  a  training  school, 
that  death  is  nothing  but  a  doorway  and  that  it  leads  out  into  the 
eternal  glories  and  grandeurs  beyond. 

I  think  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Virgin  birth  as  something  higher, 
sweeter,  nobler  than  ordinary  motherhood,  is  a  slui"  on  all  the  natural 
motherhood  of  the  world.  I  believe  that  millions  of  children  have 
been  as  immaculately  conceived,  as  purely  born,  as  was  the  Nazar- 
ene.  Why  not?  Out  of  this  doctrine,  and  that  which  is  akin  to  it, 
have  sprung  all  the  monasteries  and  the  nunneries  of  the  world,  which 
have  disgraced  and  distorted  and  demoralized  manhood  and  woman- 
hood for  a  thousand  years.  I  place  beside  the  false,  monkish,  un- 
natural claim  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  my  mother,  who  was  as 
holy  in  her  motherhood  as  was  Mary  herself. 

Another  suggestion.  This  thought  of  Jesus  as  the  second  person 
of  an  inconceivable  trinity,  a  being  neither  of  heaven  nor  earth,  but 
between  the  two;  a  being  having  two  natures  and  one  will;  a  being 
who  was  ignorant  as  a  man,  and  who  suffered  as  a  man,  while  he 
knew  everything  as  God  and  could  not  sufifer  as  God — this  concep- 
tion is  part  of  a  scheme  of  the  universe  which  represents  humanity 
as  ruined  and  lost  and  hopeless,  God  as  unjust,  and  man  as  looking 


COMMENTS   ON   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  115 

only  to  a  fearful  judgment  in  the  ages  that  are  to  be.  I  believe  that 
thousands  of  people  have  lived  since  the  time  of  Jesus  as  good,  as 
tender,  as  loving,  as  true,  as  faithful,  as  he.  There  is  no  more  mys- 
tery in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other,  for  it  is  all  mystery.  Old 
Father  Taylor,  the  famous  Methodist  Bethel  preacher  in  Boston,  was 
a  Perfectionist,  and  when  he  was  asked  if  he  thought  anybody  had 
since  lived  who  was  as  good  as  Jesus,  he  said:  "Yes;  millions  of 
them."     This  is  Methodist  authority. 

What  made  Jesus  the  power  he  was  of  his  time?  In  the  first 
place,  there  was  an  inexplicable  charm  about  his  personality  which 
drew  all  the  common  people  to  him,  as  iron  filings  are  drawn  by  a 
magnet.  He  loved  the  people,  who  instinctively  felt  it,  and  loved 
him.  Then  there  was  his  intellectual  power  of  speech.  Most  of  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  are  not  original  in  the  sense  that  nobody  else  ever 
uttered  any  similar  truths  before.  Confucius,  six  thousand  years  be- 
fore Jesus,  gave  utterance  to  the  Golden  Rule.  And  then  there  was 
the  pity,  the  sympathy,  the  tenderness  of  the  man.  And  then  he  had 
trust  in  God — a  trust  in  the  simple  Fatherhood  of  God,  that  never 
could  be  shaken.  Jesus  taught  us,  as  no  one  else  has  ever  done  it, 
the  humanness  of  God  and  the  divineness  of  man,  so  that,  standing 
there  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  he  has  naturally  and  infallibly  at- 
tracted the  eyes,  the  thought,  the  love,  the  reverence  of  the  world. 

When  it  is  dark  in  the  morning,  and  before  the  sun  rises,  ther« 
are  high  peaks  that  catch  the  far-off  rays  and  begin  to  glow,  while 
the  rest  of  the  world  still  lies  in  shadow.  So  there  are  mountainous 
men,  not  supernatural,  but  as  natural  as  the  mountains  and  the  sun — 
mountainous  men  who  catch  the  light  before  our  common  eyes  on 
the  plains  and  in  the  valleys  can  see  it,  who  see  and  proclaim  from 
their  lofty  heights  far-ofif  visions  of  truth  and  beauty  that  we  as  yet 
cannot  discern.  Anon. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MATTHEW. 


Chapter  I. 


Mafihmi  L 

16  And  Jacob  begat  Joseph  the  husband 
of  Mary,  of  whom  was  born  Jesus,  who  is 
called  Christ. 

17  So  all  the  generations  from  Abraham 
to    David    are    fourteen    generations;    and 


from  David  until  the  carrying  away  into 
Babylon  are  fourteen  generations;  and  from 
the  carrying  away  into  Babylon  uato 
Christ  are  fourteen  generations. 


SAINT  MATTHEW  is  supposed  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
other  Apostles  by  the  frequency  of  his  references  to  the  Old 
Testament.     He  records  more  particulars  of  Jesus  than  the 
others  do,  far  more  of  his  birth,  his  sayings  and  his  miracles. 

There  has  been  much  difference  of  opinion  among  writers  of  both 
sacred  and  profane  history  as  to  the  paternity  of  Jesus,  and  whether 
he  was  a  real  or  an  ideal  character.  If,  as  the  Scriptures  claim,  he 
descended  from  heaven,  begotten  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  incarna- 
tion of  God  himself,  then  there  was  nothing  remarkable  in  his  career, 
nor  miraculous  in  the  seeming  wonders  which  he  performed,  being 
the  soul  and  the  centre  of  all  the  forces  of  the  universe  of  matter  and 
of  mind.  If  he  was  an  ideal  character,  like  the  gifted  hero  of  some 
novel  or  tragedy,  his  great  deeds  and  his  wise  sayings  the  result  of 
the  imagination  of  some  skilful  artist,  then  we  may  admire  the  sketch 
as  a  beautiful  picture.  But  if  Jesus  was  a  man  who  was  bom,  lived 
and  died  as  do  other  men,  a  worthy  example  for  imitation,  he  is  de- 
serving of  our  love  and  reverence,  and  by  showing  us  the  possibili- 
ties of  human  nature  he  is  a  constant  inspiration,  our  hope  and 
salvation;  for  the  path,  however  rough,  in  which  one  man  has 
walked,  others  may  follow.  As  a  God  with  infinite  power  he  could 
have  been  no  example  to  us;  but  with  human  limitations  we  may 
emulate  his  virtues  and  walk  in  his  footsteps. 

Some  writers  think  that  his  mother  was  a  wise,  great  and  beauti- 

116 


COMMENTS  ON  MATTHEW. 


117 


ful  Jewish  maiden,  and  his  father  a  learned  rabbi,  who  devoted  much 
time  and  thought  to  his  son's  education.  At  a  period  when  learning 
was  confined  to  the  few,  it  was  a  matter  of  surprise  that  as  a  mere 
boy  he  could  read  and  write,  and  discuss  the  vital  questions  of  the 
hour  with  doctors  in  the  sacred  temples.  His  great  physical  beauty, 
the  wisdom  of  his  replies  to  the  puzzling  questions  of  the  Pharisees 
and  the  Sadducees,  his  sympathy  with  the  poor  and  the  needy,  his 
ambition  for  all  that  is  best  in  human  development,  and  his  indiffer- 
ence to  worldly  aggrandizement,  altogether  made  him  a  marked 
man  in  his  day  and  generation.  For  these  reasons  he  was  hated, 
reviled,  persecuted,  like  the  long  line  of  martyrs  who  followed  his 
teachings.  He  commands  far  more  love  and  reverence  as  a  true 
man  with  only  human  possibilities,  than  as  a  God,  superior  to  all 
human  frailties  and  temptations. 

What  were  years  of  persecution,  the  solitude  on  the  mountain, 
the  agonies  on  the  cross,  with  the  power  of  a  God  to  sustain  him? 
But  unaided  and  alone  to  triumph  over  all  human  weakness,  trials 
and  temptation,  was  victory  not  only  for  Jesus  but  for  every  human 
being  made  in  his  image. 


Matthew  it. 

1  Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethle- 
hem of  Judea  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 
king,  behold,  there  came  wise  men  from 
the  east  to  Jerusalem, 

2  Saying,  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King 
of  the  Jews?  for  we  have  seen  his  star  in 
the  east,  and  are  come  to  worship  him. 

3  When  Herod  the  king  kad  heard  these 
things,  he  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem 
witlrhim. 

4  And  when  he  had  gathered  all  the  chief 
priests  together,  he  demanded  of  them 
where  Christ  should  be  born. 

5  And  they  said  unto  him.  In  Bethlehem 
of  Judea: 

8  And  he  sent  them  to  Bethlehem,  and 
said.  Go  and  search  diligently  for  the  young 
child;  and  when  ye  have  found  him,  bring 
me  word. 

9  And  they  departed;  and  lo,  the  star, 
which  they  saw  in  the  east,  went  before 
them,  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the 
young  child  was. 


11  And  when  they  were  come  into  the 
house,  they  saw  the  young  child  with  Mary 
his  mother,  and  fell  do\.a,  and  worshiped 
him:  and  when  they  had  opened  their  treas- 
ures, they  presented  unto  him  gifts;  gold, 
and  frankincense,  and  myrrh. 

12  And  being  warned  of  God  in  a  dream 
that  they  should  not  return  to  Herod,  they 
departed  into  their  own  country  another 
way. 

13  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeareth 
to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  saying.  Arise,  and 
take  the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and 
flee  into  Egypt;  for  Herod  will  seek  to  de- 
stroy him. 

14  And  he  arose,  and  departed  into 
Egypt ; 

19  But  when  Herod  was  dead,  behold,  an 
angel  of  the  Lord  appeareth  in  a  dream  to 
Joseph 

20  Saying,  Arise,  and  take  the  young 
child  and  his  mother,  and  go  into  the  land 
of  Israel. 


These  sages  were  supposed  to  be  men  of  great  learning  belong- 


ii8 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


tng  to  a  sect  called  Magians,  who  came  from  Arabia.  There  was  a 
general  feeling  that  the  king  of  the  Jews  was  yet  to  be  born,  and 
that  they  were  soon  to  see  the  long  expected  and  promised  Messiah. 
Herod  was  greatly  troubled  by  the  tidings  that  a  child  had  been  born 
under  remarkable  circumstances.  The  star  spoken  of  was  supposed 
to  be  a  luminous  meteor  the  wise  men  had  seen  in  their  own  country 
before  they  set  out  on  their  journey  for  Bethlehem,  and  which  now 
guided  them  to  the  house  where  the  young  child  was.  Notwith- 
standing the  common  surroundings,  the  wise  men  recognizing  some- 
thing more  than  human  in  the  child,  fell  down  and  worshiped  him 
and  presented  unto  him  the  most  precious  gifts  which  their  country 
yielded.  Some  have  supposed  that  the  frankincense  and  the  myrrh 
were  intended  as  an  acknowledgment  of  his  deity,  as  the  gold  was  of 
his  royalty. 

To  defeat  the  subtle  malice  of  Herod,  who  was  determined  to  take 
the  child's  life,  Joseph  was  warned  in  a  dream  to  flee  into  Egypt  with 
the  child  and  his  mother.  The  wise  men  did  not  return  to  Herod  as 
commanded,  but  went  at  once  to  their  own  country. 


Matthew  ix. 

i8  Behold,  there  came  a  certain  ruler, 
saying,  My  daughter  is  even  now  dead;  but 
come  and  lay  thy  hand  upon  her,  and  she 
shall  live. 

19  And  Jesus  arose  and  followed  him. 

20  And  behold,  a  woman,  which  was  dis- 
eased twelve  years,  came  behind  him,  and 
touched  the  hem  of  his  garment: 

21  For  she  said  within  herself,  If  I  may 
but  touch  his  garment,  I  shall  be  whole. 

22  But  Jesus  turned  him  about,  and  when 
he  saw  her,  he  said.  Daughter,  be  of  good 
comfort:  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole. 
And  the  woman  was  made  whole  from  that 
hour. 

23  And  when  Jesus  came  into  the  ruler's 
house,    •    *    * 

24  He  said.  Give  place:  for  the  maid  is 
not  dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they  laughed 
him  to  scorn. 

25  But  when  the  people  were  put  forth, 
he  went  in,  and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and 
the  maid  arose. 

Matthew  xiv. 
i  For  Herod  had  laid  hold  on  John,  and 


put  him  in  prison  for  Herodias*  sake,  hit 

brother  Philip's  wife. 

4  For  John  said  unto  him,  It  is  not  law- 
ful for  thee  to  have  her. 

5  And  when  he  would  have  put  him  to 
death,  he  feared  the  multitude,  because 
they  counted  him  as  a  prophet. 

6  But  when  Herod's  birthday  was  kept, 
the  daughter  of  Herodias  danced  before 
them,  and  pleased  Herod. 

7  Whereupon  he  promised  to  give  her 
whatsoever  she  would  ask. 

8  And  she,  being  before  instructed  of  her 
mother,  said.  Give  me  here  John  Baptist's 
head  in  a  charger. 

9  And  the  king  was  sorry:  nevertheless 
for  the  oath's  sake  he  commanded  it  to  be 
given  her. 

ID  And  he  sent,  and  beheaded  John  in 
the  prison. 

11  And  his  head  was  brought  in  a  char- 
ger, and  given  to  tlie  damsel:  and  she 
brought  it  to  her  mother. 

12  And  his  disciples  came,  and  took  up 
the  body,  and  buried  it,  and  went  and  told 
Jesus. 


COMMENTS   ON  MATTHEW.  119 

Josephus  says  that  Herodias  was  niece  both  to  her  former  hus- 
band, PhiUp,  and  to  Herod,  with  whom  she  at  this  time  Hved.  Herod 
had  divorced  his  own  wife  in  order  to  take  her;  and  her  husband 
PhiHp  was  still  living,  as  well  as  the  daughter  Salome,  whom  he 
had  by  her.  No  connection  could  be  more  contrary  to  the  law  of 
God  than  this.  John,  therefore,  being  a  prophet  and  no  courtier, 
plainly  reproved  Herod,  and  declared  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  him 
to  retain  Herodias.  This  greatly  ofifended  Herod  and  Herodias, 
and  they  cast  John  into  prison.  Herodias  waited  her  opportunity 
to  wreak  her  malice  on  him,  counting  John's  reproof  an  insult  to  her 
character  as  well  as  an  interference  with  her  ambition. 

At  length  when  Herod  celebrated  his  birthday,  entertaining  his 
nobles  with  great  magnificence,  the  daughter  of  Herodias  danced 
before  them  all,  with  such  exquisite  grace  as  to  delight  the  company, 
whereupon  Herod  promised  her  whatever  she  desired,  though  equal 
in  value  to  half  his  kingdom.  Salome  consulted  her  mother,  who 
urged  her  to  demand  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.  By  the  in- 
fluence of  Herodias,  Herod,  contrary  to  his  own  conscience,  was 
induced  to  put  John  to  death,  for  he  feared  him  as  a  righteous  man. 

It  must  have  been  a  great  trial  to  the  daughter,  who  might  have 
asked  so  many  beautiful  gifts  and  rare  indulgences,  to  yield  all  to  her 
wicked  mother's  revenge.  But  these  deeds  were  speedily  avenged. 
It  is  said  that  Salome  had  her  head  cut  off  by  the  ice  breaking  as  she 
passed  over  it.  Herod  was  shortly  after  engaged  in  a  disastrous  war 
on  account  of  Herodias,  and  was  expelled  from  his  territories;  and 
both  died  in  exile,  hated  by  everybody  and  hating  one  another. 

E.  C.  S. 


In  regard  to  the  charge  against  Herodias,  which  is  current  among 
theological  scandal-mongers,  there  is  not  a  moderately  intelligent 
jury  of  Christendom  (if  composed  half  of  men  and  half  of  women) 
which,  after  examining  all  the  available  evidence,  would  not  render  a 
verdict  in  her  favor  of  "Not  Guilty."  The  statement  that  she  "paid 
the  price  of  her  own  daughter's  debasement  and  disgrace  for  the 
head  of  John  the  Baptist/'  is  an  assertion  born  wholly  of  the  ecclesi- 


120 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


astical,  distorted  imagination.  Not  even  a  hint,  much  less  an  iota 
of  proof,  to  warrant  such  an  assertion,  is  found  anywhere  in  history 
■ — sacred  or  profane.  While  some  anonymous  writer  of  the  early 
Christian  centuries  did  put  in  circulation  the  charge  that  John  the 
Baptist  was  put  to  death  at  the  instigation  of  Herodias  (without  im- 
plicating her  daughter's  character,  however),  Josephus,  on  the  con- 
trary, explicitly  declares  that  his  death  was  wholly  a  political  matter, 
with  which  the  names  of  Herodias  and  her  daughter  are  not  even 
connected  by  rumor.  Says  Josephus:  "When  others  came  in 
crowds  about  him  (John  the  Baptist),  for  they  were  greatly  moved 
by  hearing  his  words,  Herod,  who  feared  lest  the  great  influence 
John  had  over  the  people  might  put  it  into  his  power  and  inclination 
to  raise  a  rebellion  (for  they  seemed  ready  to  do  anything  he  should 
advise),  thought  it  best,  by  putting  him  to  death,  to  prevent  any  mis- 
chief he  might  cause.  .  .  .  Accordingly  he  was  sent  a  prisoner, 
out  of  Herod's  suspicious  temper,  to  Macherus,  the  castle  I  before  men- 
tioned, and  was  there  put  to  death." 

Now,  the  jury  must  remember  that  Josephus  was  born  in  Jeru- 
salem about  38  A.  D.,  that  he  was  an  educated  man  and  in  a  position 
to  know  the  facts  in  this  case,  owing  both  to  his  prominent  position 
among  the  Jews  and  to  his  study  of  contemporaneous  history.  But 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  anonymous  writers  who  bring  Herodias' 
name  into  the  transaction,  are  not  traceable  further  back  than  the 
fourth  century  of  our  era,  and  that  even  they  do  not  bring  any  charge 
against  her  character  as  a  mother.  E.  B.  D. 


Matthew  xv. 

21  Then  Jesus  departed  into  the  coasts 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon. 

22  And,  behold,  a  woman  of  Canaan  cried 
unto  him,  saying.  Have  mercy  on  me,  O 
Lord,  thou  son  of  David;  my  daughter  is 
grievously  vexed  with  a  devil. 

23  But  he  answered  her  not  a  word.  And 
his  disciples  besought  him  to  send  her 
away. 

24  But  he  answered  and  said,  I  am  not 
sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel. 


25  Then  came  she  and  worshiped  him^ 
saying.  Lord,  help  me. 

26  But  he  said,  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the- 
children's  food,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs. 

27  And  she  said.  Truth,  Lord:  yet  the 
dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from 
their  master's  table. 

28  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
her,  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith:  be  it  unto 
thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  And  her  daughter 
was  made  whole  from  that  very  hour. 


Peter  had    a  house  in  Capernaum;  and  his  wife's  mother  lived 


COMMENTS   ON  MATTHEW. 


121 


with  them;  and  Jesus  lodged  with  them  when  in  that  city.  It  is 
hoped  that  his  presence  brought  out  the  best  traits  of  the  mother-in- 
law,  so  as  to  make  ner  agreeable  to  Peter.  As  soon  as  Jesus  re- 
buked the  fever,  she  was  able  without  delay  to  rise  and  to  wait  on 
Jesus  and  his  disciples.  These  displays  of  the  power  of  Christ  in 
performing  miracles,  according  to  the  text,  are  varied,  in  almost 
every  conceivable  way  of  beneficence;  but  he  wrought  no  miracles 
of  vengeance,  even  the  destruction  of  the  swine  was  doubtless  in- 
tended in  mercy  and  conducive  to  much  good — so  say  the  commen- 
tators. He  not  only  healed  the  sick  and  cast  out  devils,  but  he  made 
the  blind  to  see  and  the  dumb  to  speak. 

The  woman  of  Canaan  proved  herself  quite  equal  in  argument 
with  Jesus;  and  though  by  her  persistency  she  tired  the  patience  of 
the  disciples,  she  made  her  points  with  Jesus  with  remarkable  clear- 
ness. His  patience  with  women  was  a  sore  trial  to  the  disciples, 
who  were  always  disposed  to  nip  their  appeals  in  the  bud.  It  was 
very  ungracious  in  Jesus  to  speak  of  the  Jews  as  dogs,  saying,  "It 
is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  food,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs."  Her 
reply,  "Yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  the  master's 
table,"  was  bright  and  appropriate.  Jesus  appreciated  her  tact  and 
her  perseverance,  and  granted  her  request;  and  her  daughter,  the 
text  says,  was  healed. 

We  might  doubt  the  truth  of  all  these  miracles  did  we  not  see  so 
many  wonderful  things  in  our  own  day  which  we  would  have  pro- 
nounced impossible  years  ago.  The  fact  of  human  power  develop- 
ing in  so  many  remarkable  ways  proves  that  Jesus's  gift  of  perform- 
ing miracles  is  attainable  by  those  who,  like  him,  live  pure  lives,  and 
whose  blood  flows  in  the  higher  arches  of  the  brain.  If  one  man,  at 
any  period  of  the  world's  history,  performed  miracles,  others  equally 
gifted  may  do  the  same. 


Uatthew  XX. 

20  Then  came  to  him  the  mother  of  Zebe- 
dee's  children  with  her  sons,  worshiping 
him,  and  desiring  a  certain  thing  of  him. 

21  And  he  said  unto  her,  What  wilt  thou? 


She  saith  unto  him,  Grant  that  these  ni^ 
two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on  thy  right 
hand,  and  the  other  on  the  left,  in  thy 
kingdom. 


Zebedee,  the  father  of  James  and  of  John,  was  dead;  and  he  was 


122 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


not  so  constant  a  follower  of  Christ  as  his  wife;  so  she  is  men- 
tioned as  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children,  which  saying  has  passed 
into  a  conundrum,  "Who  was  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children?" 
Scott  in  his  commentaries  gives  her  name  as  Salome.  Whatever 
her  name,  she  had  great  ambition  for  her  sons,  and  asked  that  they 
might  have  the  chief  places  of  honor  and  authority  in  his  kingdom. 
Her  son  James  was  the  first  of  the  Apostles  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom. John  survived  all  the  rest  and  is  not  supposed  to  have  died  a 
violent  death. 

A  mother's  ambition  to  lift  her  sons  over  her  own  head  in  educa- 
tion and  position,  planning  extraordinary  responsibilities  for  or- 
dinary men,  has  proved  a  misfortune  in  many  cases.  Many  a  young 
man  who  would  be  a  success  as  a  carpenter  would  be  a  failure  as  the 
governor  of  a  State.  Mothers  are  quite  apt  to  overestimate  the 
genius  of  their  children  and  push  them  into  niches  which  they  can- 
not fill. 


Matthew  xxii. 

23  The  same  day  came  to  him  the  Sad- 
ducees,  which  say  that  there  is  no  resur- 
rection and  asked  him, 

24  Saying,  Master,  Moses  said.  If  a  man 
die,  having  no  children,  his  brother  shall 
marry  his  wife,  and  raise  up  seed  unto  his 
brother. 

25  Now  there  were  with  us  seven  breth- 
ren: and  the  first,  when  he  had  married  a 
wife,  deceased,  and,  having  no  issue,  left 
his  wife  unto  his  brother: 

26  Likewise  the  second  also,  and  the 
third,  unto  the  seventh. 


27  And  last  of  all  the  woman  died  also. 

28  Therefore  in  the  resurrection,  whose 
wife  shall  she  be  of  the  seven?  for  they  all 
had  her. 

29  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them. 
Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor 
the  power  of  God. 

30  For  in  the  resurrection  they  neither 
marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are 
as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven. 


Jesus  reminded  the  Sadducees  that  marriage  was  intended  only 
for  the  present  world,  to  replenish  the  earth  and  to  repair  the  ravages 
which  death  continually  makes  among  its  inhabitants;  but  as  in  the 
future  state  there  was  to  be  no  death,  so  no  marriage.  There  the 
body  even  would  be  made  spiritual ;  and  all  the  employments  and  the 
pleasures  pure  and  angelic.  The  marriage  relation  seems  to  have 
been  a  tangled  problem  in  all  ages.  Scientists  tell  us  that  both  the 
masculine  and  feminine  elements  were  united  in  one  person  in  the 
beginning,  and  will  probably  be  reunited  again  for  eternity. 

E.  C.  S. 


COMMENTS   ON  MATTHEW. 


123 


Chapter  II. 


Matthew  XXV. 

1  Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be 
likened  unto  ten  virgins,  which^took  their 
lamps,  and  went  forth  to  meet  the  bride- 
groom. 

2  And  five  of  them  were  wise,  and  five 
were  foolish. 

3  They  that  were  foolish  took  their  lamps, 
and  took  no  oil  with  them: 

4  But  the  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels 
with  their  lamps. 

5  While  the  bridegroom  tarried,  they  all 
slumbered  and  slept. 

6  And  at  midnight  there  was  a  cry  made. 
Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh ;  go  ye  out 
to  meet  him. 

7  Then  all  those  virgins  arose,  and 
trimmed  their  lamps. 


8  And  the  foolish  said  unto  the  wise.  Give 
us  of  your  oil ;  for  our  lamps  are  gone  out. 

9  But  the  wise  answered,  saying.  Not  so, 
lest  there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you: 
but  go  ye  rather  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy 
for  yourselves. 

ID  And  while  they  went  to  buy,  the  bride- 
groom came;  and  they  that  were  ready 
went  in  with  him  to  the  marriage:  and  the 
door  was  shut. 

11  Afterward  came  also  the  other  virgins, 
saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us. 

12  But  he  answered  and  said.  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  I  know  you  not. 


IN  this  chapter  we  have  the  duty  of  self-development  impressively 
and  repeatedly  urged  in  the  form  of  parables,  addressed  alike  to 
man  and  to  woman.     The  sin  of  neglecting  and  of  burying  one's 
talents,  capacities  and  powers,  and  the  penalties  which  such  a  course 
involve,  are  here  strikingly  portrayed. 

This  parable  is  found  among  the  Jewish  records  substantially  the 
same  as  in  our  own  Scriptures.  Their  weddings  were  generally 
celebrated  at  night;  yet  they  usually  began  at  the  rising  of  the  even- 
ing star;  but  in  this  case  there  was  a  more  than  ordinary  delay. 
Adam  Clarke  in  his  commentaries  explains  this  parable  as  referring 
chiefly  to  spiritual  gifts  and  the  religious  life.  He  makes  the  Lord 
of  Hosts  the  bridegroom,  the  judgment  day  the  wedding  feast,  the 
foolish  virgins  the  sinners  whose  hearts  were  cold  and  dead,  devoid 
of  all  spiritual  graces,  and  unfit  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  wise  virgins  were  the  saints  who  were  ready  for  translation,  or 
for  the  bridal  procession.  They  followed  to  the  wedding  feast;  and 
when  the  chosen  had  entered  'Hhe  door  was  shut." 


124  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

This  strikes  us  as  a  strained  interpretation  of  a  very  simple  para- 
ble, which,  considered  in  connection  with  the  other  parables,  seems 
to  apply  much  more  closely  to  this  life  than  to  that  which  is  to 
come,  to  the  intellectual  and  the  moral  nature,  and  to  the  whole  round 
of  human  duties.  It  fairly  describes  the  two  classes  which  help  to 
make  up  society  in  general.  The  one  who,  like  the  foolish  virgins, 
have  never  learned  the  first  important  duty  of  cultivating  their  own 
individual  powers,  using  the  talents  given  to  them,  and  keeping  their 
own  lamps  trimmed  and  burning.  The  idea  of  being  a  helpmeet  to 
somebody  else  has  been  so  sedulously  drilled  into  most  women  that 
an  individual  life,  aim,  purpose  and  ambition  are  never  taken  into 
consideration.  They  oftimes  do  so  much  in  other  directions  that 
they  neglect  the  most  vital  duties  to  themselves. 

We  may  find  in  this  simple  parable  a  lesson  for  the  cultivation  of 
courage  and  of  self-reliance.  These  virgins  are  summoned  to  the 
discharge  of  an  important  duty  at  midnight,  alone,  in  darkness,  and 
in  solitude.  No  chivalrous  gentleman  is  there  to  run  for  oil  and  to 
trim  their  lamps.  They  must  depend  on  themselves,  unsupported, 
and  pay  the  penalty  of  their  own  improvidence  and  unwisdom. 
Perhaps  in  that  bridal  procession  might  have  been  seen  fathers, 
brothers,  friends,  for  whose  service  and  amusement  the  foolish  virgins 
had  wasted  many  precious  hours,  when  they  should  have  been  trim- 
ming their  own  lamps  and  keeping  oil  in  their  vessels. 

And  now,  with  music,  banners,  lanterns,  torches,  guns  and 
rockets  fired  at  intervals,  come  the  bride  and  the  groom,  with 
their  attendants  and  friends  numbering  thousands,  brilliant  in  jewels, 
gold  and  silver,  magnificently  mounted  on  richly  caparisoned  horses 
— for  nothing  can  be  more  brilliant  than  were  those  nuptial  solemni- 
ties of  Eastern  nations.  As  this  spectacle,  grand  beyond  descrip- 
tion, sweeps  by,  imagine  the  foolish  virgins  pushed  aside,  in  the 
shadow  of  some  tall  edifice,  with  dark,  empty  lamps  in  their  hands, 
unnoticed  and  unknown.  And  while  the  castle  walls  resound  with 
music  and  merriment,  and  the  lights  from  every  window  stream  out 
far  into  the  darkness,  no  kind  friends  gather  round  them  to  sympa- 
thize in  their  humiliation,  nor  to  cheer  their  loneliness.  It  matters 
^'^ittle  that  women  may  be  ignorant,  dependent,  unprepared  for  trial 


COMMENTS  ON  MATTHEW.  las 

and  for  temptation.  Alone  they  must  meet  the  terrible  emergencies  j 
of  life,  to  be  sustained  and  protected  amid  danger  and  death  by  their  i 
own  courage,  skill  and  self-reliance,  or  perish.  '  v 

Woman's  devotion  to  the  comfort,  the  education,  the  success  of  ( 
men  in  general,  and  to  their  plans  and  projects,  is  in  a  great  measure  1 
due  to  her  self-abnegation  and  self-sacrifice  having  been  so  long  j 
and  so  sweetly  lauded  by  poets,  philosophers  and  priests  as  the  acme  ' 
of  human  goodness  and  glory. 

Now,  to  my  mind,  there  is  nothing  commendable  in  the  action 
of  young  women  who  go  about  begging  funds  to  educate  young 
men  for  the  ministry,  while  they  and  the  majority  of  their  sex  are 
too  poor  to  educate  themselves,  and  if  able,  are  still  denied  admit- 
tance into  some  of  the  leading  institutions  of  learning  throughout 
our  land.  It  is  not  commendable  for  women  to  get  up  fairs  and 
donation  parties  for  churches  in  which  the  gifted  of  their  sex  may 
neither  pray,  preach,  share  in  the  offices  and  honors,  nor  have  a 
voice  in  the  business  affairs,  creeds  and  discipline,  and  from  whose 
altars  come  forth  Biblical  interpretations  in  favor  of  woman's  sub- 
jection. 

It  is  not  commendable  for  the  women  of  this  Republic  to  expend 
much  enthusiasm  on  political  parties  as  now  organized,  nor  in  na- 
tional celebrations,  for  they  have  as  yet  no  lot  or  part  in  the  great 
experiment  of  self-government. 

In  their  ignorance,  women  sacrifice  themselves  to  educate  the 
men  of  their  households,  and  to  make  of  themselves  ladders  by  which 
their  husbands,  brothers  and  sons  climb  up  into  the  kingdom  of 
knowledge,  while  they  themselves  are  shut  out  from  all  intellectual 
companionship,  even  with  those  they  love  best;  such  are  indeed 
like  the  foolish  virgins.  They  have  not  kept  their  own  lamps 
trimmed  and  burning;  they  have  no  oil  in  their  vessels,  no  resources 
in  themselves;  they  bring  no  light  to  their  households  nor  to  the 
circle  in  which  they  move;  and  when  the  bridegroom  cometh,  when 
the  philosopher,  the  scientist,  the  saint,  the  scholar,  the  great  and 
the  learned,  all  come  together  to  celebrate  the  marriage  feast  of 
science  and  religion,  the  foolish  virgins,  though  present,  are  prac- 
tically shut  out;  for  what  know  they  of  the  grand  themes  which  in- 


126  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

spire  each  tongue  and  kindle  every  thought?  Even  the  brothers 
and  the  sons  whom  they  have  educated,  now  rise  to  heights  which 
they  cannot  reach,  span  distances  which  they  cannot  comprehend. 

The  soHtude  of  ignorance,  oh,  who  can  measure  its  misery! 

The  wise  virgins  are  they  who  keep  their  lamps  trimmed,  who 
burn  oil  in  their  vessels  for  their  own  use,  who  have  improved  every 
advantage  for  their  education,  secured  a  healthy,  happy,  complete 
development,  and  entered  all  the  profitable  avenues  of  labor,  for 
self-support,  so  that  when  the  opportunities  and  the  responsibilities 
of  life  come,  they  may  be  fitted  fully  to  enjoy  the  one  and  ably  to  dis- 
charge the  other. 

These  are  the  women  who  to-day  are  close  upon  the  heels  of  man 
in  the  whole  realm  of  thought,  in  art,  in  science,  in  literature  and  in 
government.  With  telescopic  vision  they  explore  the  starry  firma- 
ment, and  bring  back  the  history  of  the  planetary  world.  With 
chart  and  compass  they  pilot  ships  across  the  mighty  deep,  and 
with  skilful  fingers  send  electric  messages  around  the  world.  In 
galleries  of  art,  the  grandeur  of  nature  and  the  greatness  of  human- 
ity are  immortalized  by  them  on  canvas,  and  by  their  inspired  touch, 
dull  blocks  of  marble  are  transformed  into  angels  of  light.  In  music 
they  speak  again  the  language  of  Mendelssohn,  of  Beethoven,  of 
Chopin,  of  Schumann,  and  are  worthy  interpreters  of  their  great 
souls.  The  poetry  and  the  novels  of  the  century  are  theirs;  they, 
too,  have  touched  the  keynote  of  reform  in  religion,  in  politics  and  in 
social  life.  They  fill  the  editors'  and  the  professors'  chairs,  plead  at 
the  bar  of  justice,  walk  the  wards  of  the  hospital,  and  speak  from  the 
pulpit  and  the  platform. 

Such  is  the  widespread  preparation  for  the  marriage  feast  of 
science  and  religion;  such  is  the  type  of  womanhood  which  the 
bridegroom  of  an  enlightened  public  sentiment  welcomes  to-day; 
and  such  is  the  triumph  of  the  wise  virgins  over  the  folly,  the  igno- 
rance and  the  degradation  of  the  past  as  in  grand  procession  they 
enter  the  temple  of  knowledge,  and  the  door  is  no  longer  shut. 


COMMENTS   ON  MATTHEW. 


127 


Matthew  xxvi. 

6  Now  when  Jesus  was  in  Bethany,  in  the 
house  of  Simon  the  leper, 

7  There  came  unto  him  a  woman  having 
an  alabaster  box  of  very  precious  ointment, 
and  poured  it  on  his  head. 

8  But  when  his  disciples  saw  it,  they 
said,  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste? 

9  For  this  ointment  might  have  been  sold 
for  much,  and  given  to  the  poor. 

10  When  Jesus  understood  it,  he  said 
unto  them,  Why  trouble  ye  the  woman? 

11  For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you; 
but  me  ye  have  not  always. 

12  For  in  that  she  hath  poured  this  oint- 
ment on  my  body,  she  did  it  for  my  burial. 

13  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  wheresoever 
this  gospel  shall  be  preached,  there  shall 
also  this  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her. 

Matthew  xxvii. 

19  When  Pilate  was  set  down  on  the 
judgment  seat,  his  wife  sent  unto  him,  say- 


ing. Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  just 
man:  for  I  have  suffered  many  things  this 
day  in  a  dream,  because  of  him. 

24  When  Pilate  saw  that  he  could  prevail 
nothing,  but  that  rather  a  tumult  was  made, 
he  took  water,  and  washed  his  hands  be- 
fore the  multitude,  saying,  I  am  innocent 
of  the  blood  of  this  just  person:  see  ye 
to  it. 

2$  Then  answered  all  the  people,  and 
said.  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  chil- 
dren. 

55  And  many  women  were  there  behold- 
ing afar  off,  which  followed  Jesus  from 
Galilee,  ministering  unto  him; 

56  Among  which  was  Mary  Magdalene, 
and  Mary,  the  mother  of  James  and  Joses, 
and  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children. 

61  And  there  was  Mary  Magdalene,  and 
the  other  Mary,  sitting  over  against  the 
sepulchre. 


It  is  a  common  opinion  among  Christians  that  the  persecutions 
of  the  Jews  in  all  periods  and  latitudes  is  a  punishment  on  them  for 
their  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  and  that  this  defiant  acceptance  of  the  re- 
sponsibility is  being  justly  fulfilled. 


Matthew  xxviii. 

I  In  the  end  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began 
to  dawn  came  Mary  Magdalene  and  the 
other  Mary  to  see  the  sepulchre. 

a  And,  behold,  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake: for  the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended 
from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  back  the 
stone  from  the  door,  and  sat  upon  it. 

3  His  countenance  was  like  lightning,  and 
his  raiment  white  as  snow: 

4  And  for  fear  of  him  the  keepers  did 
shake,  and  became  as  dead  men. 

5  And  the  angel  answered  and  said  unto 
the  women,  Fear  not  ye;  for  I  know  that  ye 
seek  Jesus,  which  was  crucified. 


7  Go  quickly  and  tell  his  disciples  that  he 
is  risen  from  the  dead;  and  behold,  he 
goeth  before  you  into  Galilee;  there  shall 
j'e  see  him. 

8  And  they  departed  quickly  from  the 
sepulchre  with  great  joy. 

9  And  as  they  went  to  tell  his  disciples, 
behold,  Jesus  met  them,  saying,  All  hail. 
And  they  came  and  held  him  by  the  feet, 
and  worshiped  him. 

10  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  Be  not 
afraid:  tell  my  brethren  that  they  go  into 
Galilee,  and  there  shall  they  see  me. 


Among  the  witnesses  of  the  crucifixion,  this  melancholy  and  un-  / 
timely  scene,  there  were  some  women  who  had  followed  Jesus  from  1 
Galilee  and  had  waited  on  him,  supplying  his  wants  from  their  sub-  ( 
stance.  Affection  and  anxious  concern  induced  them  to  be  present,  1 
and  probably  they  stand  afar  o^,  fearing  the  outrages  of  the  multi-  j 


138  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

tude.  Words  cannot  express  the  mixed  emotions  of  true  gratitude, 
reverence,  sorrow  and  compassion  which  must  have  agitated  their 
souls  on  this  occasion.  We  find  from  John,  who  was  also  present, 
that  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  a  spectator  of  this  distressing 
scene. 

When  Jesus  was  brought  before  Pilate,  he  was  greatly  troubled 
as  to  what  judgment  he  should  give,  and  his  hesitation  was  in- 
creased by  a  warning  from  his  wife,  to  have  no  part  in  the  death 
of  that  righteous  man;  for  she  had  terrifying  dreams  respecting 
him,  which  made  her  conclude  that  his  death  would  be  avenged  hj 
some  unseen  power.  E.  C.  S. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MARK. 


Mark  Hi. 

31  There  came  then  his  brethren  and  his 
mother,  and,  standing  without,  sent  unto 
him, 

32  And  the  multitude  sat  about  him,  and 
said  unto  him.  Behold,  thy  mother  and  thy 
brethren  seek  for  thee. 

33  And  he  answered  them,  saying.  Who 
is  my  mother,  or  my  brethren? 


34  And  he  looked  round  about  and  said, 
Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren! 

35  For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of 
God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  my  sister, 
and  mother. 


M 


ANY  of  the  same  texts  found  in  the  Book  of  Matthew  are  re- 
peated by  the  other  EvangeHsts.  It  appears  from  the  text 
that  the  earnestness  of  Jesus  in  teaching-  the  people,  made 
some  of  his  friends,  who  did  not  beHeve  in  his  mission,  anxious. 
Even  his  mother  feared  to  have  him  teach  doctrines  in  opposition 
to  the  public  sentiment  of  his  day.  His  words  of  seeming  disre- 
spect to  her,  simply  meant  to  imply  that  he  had  an  important  work 
to  do,  that  his  duties  to  humanity  were  more  to  him  than  the  ties  of 
natural  aflfection. 

Many  of  the  ancient^writers  criticise  Mary  severely,  for  trying  to 
exercise  control  over  Jesus,  assuming  rightful  authority  over  him. 
Theophylact  taxes  her  with  vainglory;  TertulHan  accuses^"  her 'of 
ambition;  St,  Chrysostom  of  impiety  and  of  disbelief;  Whitby  says 
it  is  plain  that  this  is  a  protest  against  the  idolatrous  worship  of 
Mary.  She  was  generally  admitted  to-be  a  woman  of  gqqd^char- 
acter  and  worthy  of  all  praise;  but  whatever  she  was,  it  ill  becomes 
thosejvho  believe  that  she  was  the  mother  of  GocTtoTcritlcise  her  as 
they  would  an  ordinary  mortal. 

Mark  X. 

2  And  the  Pharisees  came  to  him,  and 
asked  him,  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put 
away  his  wife?    tempting  him. 

3  And  he  answered  and  said  unto  them. 
What  did  Moses  command  you? 

4  And  they  said,  Moses  suffered  to  write 
a  bill  of  divorcement,  and  to  put  her  away. 

5  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
them.  For  the  hardness  of  your  heart  he 
wrote  you  this  precept. 

The  question  of  marriage  was  a  constant  theme  for  discussion  in 

129 


\ 


6  But  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation 
God  made  them  male  and  female. 

7  For  this   cause   shall   a   man   leave  his 
father  and  mother,  and  cleave  to  his  wife; 

8  And  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh: 

9  What    therefore    God    hath    joined    to- 
gether, let  not  man  put  asunder. 


130  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

the  days  of  Aloses  and  of  Jesus,  as  in  our  own  times.     The  Pharisees 

are  still  asking  questions,  not  that  they  care  for  an  answer  on  the 

highest  plane  of  morality,  but  to  entrap  some  one  as  opposed  to  the 

authorities  of  their  times.     Life  with  Jesus  was  too  short  and  his 

ipission  too  stern  to  parley  with  pettifoggers;    so  he  gives  to  them 

;  a  clear  cut,  unmistakable  definition  as  to  what  marriage  is:    "Who- 

•  ever  puts  away  his  wife  save  for  the  cause  of  unchastity,  which  vio- 

,  lates  the  marriage  covenant,  commits  adultery."    Hence,  under  the 

Christian  dispensation  we  must  judge  husband  and  wife  by  the  same 

,  code  of  morals. 

If  this  rule  of  the  perfect  equality  of  the  sexes  were  observed  in 
all  social  relations  the  marriage  problem  might  be  easily  solved. 
But  with  one  code  of  morals  for  man  and  another  for  woman,  we 
are  involved  in  all  manner  of  complications.  In  England,  for  ex- 
ample, a  woman  may  marry  her  husband's  brother;  but  a  man  may 
not  marry  his  wife's  sister.  They  have  had  "a  deceased  wife's  sis- 
ter's bill"  before  Parliament  for  generations.  Ever  and  anon  they 
take  it  up,  look  at  it  with  their  opera  glasses,  air  their  grandfather's 
old  platitudes  over  it,  give  a  sickly  smile  at  some  well-worn  witti- 
cism, or  drop  a  tear  at  a  pathetic  whine  from  some  bishop,  then  lay 
the  bill  reverently  back  in  its  sacred  pigeon-hole  for  a  period  of  rest. 
The  discussion  in  the  United  States  is  now  in  the  form  of  a 
homogeneous  divorce  law  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  but  this  is 
not  in  woman's  interest.  What  Canada  was  to  the  Southern  slaves 
under  the  old  regime,  a  State  with  liberal  divorce  laws  is  to  fugitive 
wives.  If  a  dozen  learned  judges  should  get  together,  as  is  proposed, 
to  revise  the  divorce  laws,  they  would  make  them  more  stringent  in. 
liberal  States  instead  of  more  lax  in  conservative  States.  When 
such  a  commission  is  decided  upon,  one-half  of  the  members  should 
be  women,  as  they  have  an  equal  interest  in  the  marriage  and  divorce 
laws;  and  common  justice  demands  that  they  should  have  an  equal 
voice  in  their  reconstruction.  I  do  not  think  a  homogeneous  law 
desirable;  though  I  should  like  to  see  New  York  and  South  Caro" 
lina  liberalized,  I  should  not  like  to  see  South  Dakota  and  Indiana 
more  conservative.  , 


COMMENTS   ON  MARK. 


131 


Mark  xii. 

41  And  Jesus  sat  over  against  the  treas- 
tiry,  and  beheld  how  the  people  cast  money 
into  the  treasury;  and  many  that  were  rich 
cast  in  much. 

4^  And  there  came  a  certain  poor  widow, 
and  she  thew  in  two  mites,  which  make  a 
farthing. 

43  And  he  called  unto  him  his  disciples. 


and  saith  unto  thera.  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
That  this  poor  widow  hath  cast  more  in 
than  all  they  which  have  cast  into  the 
treasury: 

44  For  all  they  did  cast  in  of  their  abund- 
ance; but  she  of  her  want  did  cast  in  all 
that  she  had,  even  all  her  living. 


The  widow's  gift  no  doubt  might  have  represented  more  gener- 
osity than  all  beside,  for  the  large  donations  of  the  rich  were  only  a 
part  of  their  superfluities,  and  bore  a  small  proportion  to  the  abund- 
ance which  they  still  had,  but  she  gave  in  reality  of  her  necessities. 
The  small  contribution  was  of  no  special  use  in  the  treasury  of  the 
Church,  but  as  an  act  of  self-sacrifice  it  was  of  more  real  value  in 
estimating  character.  Jesus  with  his  intuition  saw  the  motives  of  the 
giver,  as  well  as  the  act. 

This  woman,  belonging  to  an  impoverished  class,  was  trained 
to  self-abnegation;  but  when  women  learn  the  higher  duty  of  self- 
development,  they  will  not  so  readily  expend  all  their  forces  in  serv- 
ing others.  Paul  says  that  a  husband  who  does  not  provide  for  his 
own  household  is  worse  than  an  infidel.  So  a  woman,  who  spends 
all  her  time  in  churches,  with  priests,  in  charities,  neglects  to  culti- 
vate her  own  natural  gifts,  to  make  the  most  of  herself  as  an  indi- 
vidual in  the  scale  of  being,  a  responsible  soul  whose  place  no  other 
can  fill,  is  worse  than  an  infidel.  "Self-development  is  a  higher  duty 
than  self-sacrilice/'  should  be  woman's  motto  henceforward. 

E.  C.  S. 


THE  BOOK  OF  LUKE. 


Luke  I. 

5  There  was  in  the  days  of  Herod,  the 
king  of  Judea,  a  certain  priest  named  Zach- 
arias,  and  his  wife  was  of  the  daughters  of 
Aaron,  and  her  name  was  Elizabeth. 

6  And  they  were  both  righteous  before 
God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments  and 
ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless. 

7  And  they  had  no  child;  and  they  both 
were  now  well  stricken  in  years. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  while  he  exe- 
cuted the  priest's  office  before  God — his  lot 
was  to  burn  incense  when  he  went  into  the 
temple  of  the  Lord. 

II  And  there  appeared  unto  him  an  an- 


gel standing  on  the  right  side  of  the  altar 
of  incense. 

12  And  when  Zacharias  saw  him,  he  was 
troubled,  and  fear  fell  upon  him. 

13  But  the  angel  said  unto  him,  Fear  not, 
Zacharias:  for  thy  prayer  is  heard;  and  thy 
wife  Elisabeth  shall  bear  thee  a  sen,  and 
thou  shalt  call  his  name  John. 

14  And  thou  shalt  have  joy  and  gladness; 
and  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birth. 

15  For  he  shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord,  and  shall  drink  neither  wine  nor 
strong  drink;  and  he  shall  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost. 


LUKE  was  the  companion  of  the  Apostle  Paul  in  all  of  his  labors 
during  many  years.  He  also  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
He  was  a  Syrian,  and  became  acquainted  with  the  Christians 
at  Antioch.     He  is  called  by  Paul  "the  beloved  physician." 

Luke  opens  his  book  with  the  parentage  and  the  birth  of  John. 
His  father,  Zacharias,  was  a  priest,  and  his  mother,  Elizabeth,  was 
also  descended  from  Aaron.  They  were  exemplary  persons.  They 
habitually  walked  in  an  upright  course  of  obedience  to  all  the  com- 
mandments. They  had  no  children,  but  in  answer  to  their  prayers 
a  son  was  at  last  given  to  them,  whose  name  was  John,  which  signi- 
fies "grace,  or  favor  of  the  Lord." 

While  Zacharias  ministered  at  the  altar,  an  angel  appeared  to 
him  to  tell  him  of  the  advent  of  his  son.  The  vision  was  so  startling 
that  Zacharias  was  struck  dumb  for  a  season.  The  same_angel  ap- 
peared soon  after  to  Mai^,--th€-4nother-o£_j£&us,-jzdtli_glad  tidings 
of  her  motherhood.  She  and  Elizabeth  met  often  during  that  joyful 
period,  and  talked  over  the  promised  bksaings.     John  was  born 

132 


COMMENTS   ON  LUKE. 


133 


about  six  months  before  Jesus,  and  is  sometimes  called  his  fore- 
runner.    Ehzabeth  and  Mary  were  cousins  on  the  mother's  sid^ 

Soon  after  the  angel  appeared  to  Mary  she  went  in  haste  to  the 
home  of  Zacharias,  and  saluted  Elizabeth,  who  said,  "Blessed  art 
thou  among  women;  and  how  comes  this  honor  to  me,  that  the 
mother  of  my  Lord  should  cross  my  threshold?"  Mary  replied,  "My 
soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord  that  he  hath  thus  honored  his  hand- 
maiden.    Henceforth  all  generations  shall  call  me  blessed." 

When  Elizabeth's  son  was  born,  the  neighbors,  cousins  and  aunts 
all  assembled  and  at  once  volunteered  their  opinions  as  to  the  boy's 
name,  and  all  insisted  that  he  should  be  named  "Zacharias,"  after 
his  father.  But  Elizabeth  said,  "No;  his  name  is  John,  as  the  angel 
said."  As  none  of  the  family  had  ever  been  called  by  that  name, 
they  appealed  by  signs  to  the  father  (who  was  still  dumb);  but  he 
promptly  wrote  on  the  table,  "His  name  is  John." 


Luke  it. 

36  And  there  was  one  Anna,  a  prophet- 
ess. 

37  And  she  was  a  widow  of  about  four- 


score and  four  years,  which  departed  not 
from  the  temple,  but  served  God  with  fast- 
ings and  prayers  night  and  day. 


Anna  having  lost  her  husband  in  the  prime  of  her  life,  remained  a 
widow  to  her  death.  She  resided  near  the  temple  that  she  might 
attend  all  its  sacred  ordinances.  Having  no  other  engagements  to 
occupy  her  attention,  she  spent  her  whole  time  in  the  service  of  God, 
and  joined  frequent  fastings  with  her  constant  prayers  for  herself 
and  her  people.  She  was  employed  day  and  night  in  those  religious 
exercises,  so  says  the  text;  but  Scott  allows  the  poor  widow,  now 
over  eighty  years  of  age,  some  hours  for  rest  at  night  (more  merci- 
ful than  the  Evangelist).  She  came  into  the  temple  just  as  Simon 
held  the  child  in  his  arms,  and  she  also  returned  thanks  to  God  for 
the  coming  of  the  promised  Saviour,  and  that  her  eyes  had  beheld 
him. 


41  Now  his  parents  went  to  Jerusalem 
every  year  at  the  feast  of  the  passover. 

42  And  when  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
they  went  up  to  Jerusalem  after  the  custom 
of  the  feast. 


43  And  when  they  had  fulfilled  the  days, 
as  they  returned,  the  child  Jesus  tarried  he- 
hind  in  Jerusalem :  and  Joseph  and  his 
mother  knew  not  of  it. 

44  But  they,  supposing  him  to  have  been 


134 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


in  the  company,  went  a  day's  journey:  and 
they  sought  him  among  their  kinsfolk  and 
acquaintance. 

45  And  when  they  found  him  not,  they 
turned  back  again  to  Jerusalem,  seeking 
him. 

46  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  after  three 
days  they  found  him  in  the  temple,  sitting 
in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing 
them,  and  asking  them  questions. 

47  And  all  that  heard  him  were  aston- 
ished at  his  understanding  and  answers. 


48  And  when  they  saw  him,  his  mother 
said  unto  him,  Son,  why  hast  thou  thus 
dealt  with  us?  Behold,  thy  father  and  1 
have  sought  thee  sorrowing. 

49  And  he  said  unto  them.  How  is  it  that 
ye  sought  me?  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  my  Father's  business? 

50  And  they  understood  not  the  saying 
which  he  spake  unto  them. 

51  And  he  went  with  them  to  Nazareth, 
and  was  subject  unto  them:  but  his  mother 
kept  all  these  sayings  in  her  heart. 


These  texts  contain  all  that  is  said  of  the  childhood  and  the  youth 
of  Jesus,  though  we  should  have  expected  fuller  information  on  so 
extraordinary  a  subject.  Joseph  and  Mary  went  up  to  the  feast  of 
the  passover  every  year,  and  it  was  the  custom  to  take  children  of 
that  age  with  them.  They  journeyed  in  a  great  company  for  mutual 
security,  and  thus  in  starting  they  overlooked  the  boy,  supposing 
that  he  was  with  the  other  children.  But  when  the  families  sepa- 
rated for  the  night  they  could  not  find  him,  so  they  journeyed  back 
to  Jerusalem  and  found  him  in  a  court  of  the  temple,  listening  to,  and 
asking  questions  of  the  doctors,  who  were  surprised  at  his  intelli- 
gence. 

It  is  often  said  that  he  was  disputing  with  the  doctors,  which  the 
commentators  say  gives  a  wrong  impression ;  he  was  modestly  ask- 
ing questions.  Neither  Mary  nor  Joseph  remembered  nor  fully 
understood  what  the  angel  had  told  them  concerning  the  mission  of 
their  child;  neither  did  they  comprehend  the  answer  of  Jesus. 
However,  he  went  back  with  them  to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject  to 
n:hem  in  all  things,  working  at  the  carpenter's  trade  until  he  entered 
on  his  mission.  It  was  a  great  mistake  that  some  angel  had  not  made 
clear  to  Mary  the  important  character  and  mission  of  her  son,  that 
she  might  not  have  been  a  seeming  hindrance  on  so  many  occasions, 
and  made  it  necessary  for  Jesus  to  rebuke  her  so  often,  and  thus  sub- 
ject herself  to  criticism  for  his  seeming  disrespect. 


Luke  xiii. 

II  And,  behold,  there  was  a  woman  which 
had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years,  and 
was  bowed  together,  and  could  in  no  wise 
lift  up  herself. 


12  And  when  Jesus  saw  her,  he  called  her 
to  him,  and  said  unto  her,  Woman,  thou 
art  loosed  from  thine  infirmity. 

13  And  he  laid  his  hands  on  her:  and  im- 


COMMENTS   ON  LUKE. 


135 


mediately  she  was  made  straight,  and  glori- 
fied God. 

14  And  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  an- 
swered with  indignation,  because  that  Jesus 
had  healed  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  said 
unto  the  people,  There  are  six  days  in 
which  men  ought  to  work:  in  them  there- 
fore come  and  be  healed,  but  not  on  the 
Sabbath  day. 

15  The  Lord  then  answered  him,  and  said. 
Thou  hypocrite,  doth  not  each  one  of  you 


on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass 
from  the  stall,  and  lead  him  away  to  water- 
ing? 

16  And  ought  not  this  woman,  being  a 
daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  hath 
bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed 
from  this  bond  on  the  Sabbath  day? 

17  And  when  he  had  said  these  things, 
all  his  adversaries  were  ashamed:  and  all 
the  people  rejoiced  for  all  the  glorious 
things  that  were  done  by  him. 


Jesus  was  teaching  in  one  of  the  synagogues  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  saw  the  distress  of  this  woman  who  attended  worship;  he 
called  her  to  him,  and,  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands  and  by  prayer, 
immediately  restored  her;  and  being  made  straight,  she  glorified 
God  before  all  for  this  unexpected  deliverance.  The  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  who  hated  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  and  envied  the  honor, 
tried  to  veil  his  enmity  with  pretence  of  singular  piety,  telling  the 
people  that  they  should  come  for  healing  other  days  and  not  on  the 
holy  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  as  if  the  woman  had  come  there  on  purpose 
for  a  cure,  or  as  if  a  word  and  a  touch  attended  with  so  beneficent 
an  effect  could  break  the  Sabbath.  Jesus'  rebuke  of  the  malice  and 
hypocrisy  of  the  man  was  fully  justified. 

The  Sabbath-day-Pharisees  are  not  all  dead  yet.  While  more 
rational  people  are  striving  to  open  libraries,  art  galleries  and  con- 
cert halls  on  Sundays,  a  class  of  religious  bigots  are  endeavoring  to 
close  up  on  that  day,  all  places  of  entertainment  for  the  people.  The 
large  class  of  citizens  shut  up  in  factories,  in  mercantile  establish- 
ments, in  offices,  and  in  shops  all  the  week,  should  have  the  liberty 
to  enjoy  themselves  in  all  rational  amusements  on  Sunday.  All 
healthy  sports  in  the  open  air,  music  in  parks,  popular  lectures  in 
all  the  school  buildings,  should  be  encouraged  and  protected  by  law 
for  their  benefit. 


Lt'ke  xviii. 

2  There  was  in  a  city  a  judge,  which 
feared  not  God,  neither  regarded  man: 

3  And  there  was  a  widow  in  that  city; 
and  she  came  unto  him,  saying.  Avenge  me 
of  mine  adversary. 

4  And  he  would  not  for  a  while:  but  af- 
terward he  said  within  himself,  Though  I 
fear  not  God,  neither  regard  man; 


5  Yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  I 
will  avenge  her,  lest  by  her  continual  com- 
ing she  weary  me. 

6  And  the  Lord  said,  Hear  what  the  un- 
just judge  saith. 

7  And  shall  not  God  avenge  his  own 
elect,  which  cry  day  and  night  unto  him, 
though  he  bear  long  with  them? 


156  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

The  lesson  taught  in  this  parable  is  perseverance.  Everything 
can  be  accomplished  by  continued  effort.  Saints  hope  to  acquire 
all  spiritual  graces  through  prayers;  philanthropists  to  carry  out 
their  reform  measures  through  constant  discussion;  politicians  their 
public  measures  by  continued  party  combat  and  repeated  acts  of 
legislation.  Through  forty  years  of  conflict  we  abolished  slavery. 
Through  fifty  years  of  conflict  we  have  partially  emancipated  woman 
from  the  bondage  of  the  old  common  law  of  England,  and  crowned 
her  with  the  rights  of  full  citizenship  in  four  States  in  the  American 
Republic.     ' 

The  condition  of  the  woman  in  this  parable,  bowed  to  the  earth 
with  all  her  disabilities,  well  represents  the  degraded  condition  of 
the  sex  under  every  form  of  government  and  of  religion  the  world 
over;  but,  unlike  her,  women  still,  in  many  latitudes,  make  their 
appeals  in  vain  at  cathedral  altars  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation. 

E.  C.  S. 


The  sentiment  concerning  the  equality  of  male  and  female,  which 
Paul  avowed  to  the  Galatians,  is  perfectly  in  accord  with  what 
"Luke"  reports  of  Jesus'  own  custom.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  chief  adherents  of  Paul  accepted  only  this  report  (and  this  only 
partly)  as  worthy  of  credit;  and  therein  we  find  the  statement  that 
many  female  ministers  had  accompanied  Jesus  and  the  male  min- 
isters, as  they  wandered  (in  Salvation  Army  fashion)  "throughout 
every  city  and  village  preaching."  It  is  true  that  we  now  find  a 
qualifying  passage  in  reference  to  the  female  ministers,  namely, 
"which  ministered  unto  him  of  their  substance"  (Luke,  ch.  8,  v,  3). 
But  this  is,  plainly,  one  of  those  numerous  margiTrahtomments,  made 
at  late  date  (when  all  the  original  manuscripts  had  disappeared),  by 
men  who  had,  doubtless,  lost  knowledge  of  women's  original  equal- 
ity in  the  ministry;  for  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  one  of  the  earliest 
Christian  writers,  expressly  aflfirms  that  the  deacons  were  "not 
ministers  of  meats  and  drinks,  but  ministers  of  the  Church  of  God." 

Although  this  is  well  known,  our  modern  theologians  seem  to 
have  been  unable  to  avoid  jumping  to  the  conclusion  that,  whenever 


COMMENTS   ON  LUKE.  137 

zvomcn  are  mentioned  in  the  ministry,  it  must  be  only  as  ministers 
of  their  substance,  either  as  a  kind  of  commissaries,  or,  at  most,  as 
kindergarten  officials.  It  is  manifestly  true  that  the  early  Church 
was  immensely  indebted  to  the  benefactions  of  rich  widows  and  vir- 
gin heiresses  for  the  means  of  sustaining  life  in  its  fellowship. 
Thecla,  Paula,  Eustochium,  Marcella,  Melanie,  Susanna,  are  but  a 
few  of  the  women  of  wealth  who  gave  both  themselves  and  their 
large  fortunes  to  the  establishment  of  the  ethics  of  Jesus.  Yet 
Paula's  greatest  work  (from  men's  standpoint  of  great  works)  is 
rarely  mentioned  in  Christendom,  and  it  is  significant  of  the  degra- 
dation which  women  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Church  that  the 
time  came  when  Churchmen  could  not  believe  that  she  had  per- 
formed it,  even  with  Jerome's  acknowledgment  confronting  them, 
and  consequently  erased  the  word  "sister"  accompanying  the  name 
Paula,  substituting  therefor  the  word  "brother!" 

Paula  founded  and  endowed  monasteries,  won  to  the  Christian 
cause  allegiance  from  one  of  the  noblest  families  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
and  originated  within  the  monasteries  the  occupation  of  copying 
manuscripts,  to  which  civilization  is  indebted  for  the  preservation  of 
much  precious  literature;  but  her  most  important  service  to  the 
Church  was  her  co-labor  with  Jerome  in  the  great  task  of  translating 
the  Jewish  scriptures  from  the  original  Hebrew  into  Latin.  It  was 
Paula  who  suggested  and  inspired  the  undertaking,  furnishing  the  ex- 
pensive works  of  reference,  without  which  it  would  have  been  impos- 
sible, and  being  herself  a  woman  of  fine  intellect,  highly  trained,  and 
an  excellent  Hebrew  scholar,  revised  and  corrected  Jerome's  work; 
then,  finally, assisted  by  her  brilliant  daughter,  Eustochium,  performed 
the  enormous  task  of  copying  it  accurately  for  circulation.  It  was 
the  least  that  Jerome  could  do  to  dedicate  the  completed  work  to 
those  able  coadjutors,  and  it  is  an  amazing  thing  to  find  Churchmen 
still  eulogizing  Jerome  as  "author  of  the  Vulgate,"  without  the  slight- 
est reference  to  the  fact  that,  but  for  Paula's  help,  the  Vulgate  would 
not  have  come  into  existence.  But  until  men  and  women  return  to 
more  natural  relations,  until  women  cast  oft"  their  false  subserviency, 
thereby  helping  men  to  get  rid  of  their  unnatural  arrogance,  nothing 
different  from  the  injustice  Christendom  has  shown  Paula  can  be 
looked  for.  E.  B.  D. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOHN. 


John  a. 

And  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage 
in  Cana  of  Galilee;  and  the  mother  of  Jesus 
was  there: 

2  And  both  Jesus  was  called,  and  his  dis- 
ciples, to  the  marriage. 

3  And  when  they  wanted  wine,  the  moth- 
er of  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  They  have  no 
wine. 

4  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  what 
have  I  to  do  with  thee?  mine  hour  is  not 
yet  come. 

5  His  mother  saith  unto  the  servants. 
Whatsoever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  it. 

7  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Fill  the  water- 


pots  with  water.    And  they  filled  them  up 
to  the  brim. 

8  And  he  saith  unVo  them,  Draw  out  now, 
and  bear  unto  the  governor  of  the  feast. 
And  they  bare  it. 

9  When  the  ruler  of  the  feast  had  tasted 
the  water  that  was  made  wine,  he  called  the 
bridegroom. 

ID  And  saith  unto  him.  Every  man  at  the 
beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine;  and 
when  men  have  well  drunk,  then  that  which 
is  worse:  but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine 
until  now. 


JOHN  was  distinguished  among  the  Apostles  for  his  many  vir- 
tues, and  was  specially  honored  as  the  bosom  friend  of  Jesus. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Judea  until 
the  time  approached  for  the  predicted  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  then 
he  went  to  Asia  and  resided  some  years  in  Ephesus,  was  banished  to 
the  Island  of  Patmos  by  the  Emperor  Domitian,  and  returned  to  Asia 
after  the  death  of  that  Emperor.  He  lived  to  be  a  hundred  years 
of  age,  and  died  a  natural  death,  being  the  only  Apostle  who  escaped 
martyrdom.  John  alone  records  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  and 
many  things  not  mentioned  in  the  other  Gospels. 

Probably  Mary  was  related  to  one  of  the  parties  to  the  marriage, 
for  she  appears  to  have  given  directions  as  one  of  the  family.  As 
Joseph  is  not  mentioned  either  on  this  occasion  or  afterwards,  we 
may  suppose  that  he  died  before  Jesus  entered  into  his  public  min- 
istry. There  was  no  disrespect  intended  in  the  word  "woman"  with 
which  Jesus  addressed  his  mother,  as  the  greatest  princesses  were 
accosted  even  by  their  servants  in  the  same  manner  among  the  an- 
cients.    Jesus  merely  intended  to  suggest  that  no  one  could  com- 


138 


COMMENTS  ON  JOHN. 


139 


mand  when  he  should  perform  miracles,  as  they  would  in  any  or- 
dinary event  subject  to  human  discretion. 

The  Jews  always  kept  a  great  number  of  water-pots  filled  with 
water  in  their  houses  for  the  ceremonial  washing  prescribed  by 
law.  Commentators  dififer  as  to  how  much  these  pots  contained,  but 
it  is  estimated  that  the  six  contained  a  hogshead.  The  ruler  of  the 
feast  was  generally  a  Levite  or  a  priest;  and  he  expressed  his  sur- 
prise that  they  should  have  kept  the  best  wine  until  the  last. 


John  iv. 

5  Then  cometh  he  to  a  city  of  Samaria, 
which  is  called  Sychar. 

6  Now  Jacob's  well  was  there.  Jesus 
therefore,  being  wearied  with  his  journey, 
sat  thus  on  the  well:  and  it  was  about  the 
sixth  hour. 

7  There  cometh  a  woman  of  Samaria  to 
draw  water:  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Give  me 
to   drink. 

8  (For  his  disciples  were  gone  away  unto 
the  city  to  buy  meat.) 

9  Then  saith  the  woman  of  Samaria  unto 
him,  How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  ask- 


est  drink  of  me,  which  am  a  woman  of 
Samaria?  for  the  Jews  have  no  dealings 
with  the  Samaritans. 

10  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If 
thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is 
that  saith  to  thee.  Give  me  to  drink;  thou 
wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would 
have  given  thee  living  water. 

27  And  upon  this  came  his  disciples,  and 
marvelled  that  he  talked  with  the  woman: 
yet  no  man  said.  What  seekest  thou?  or, 
Why  talkest  thou  with  her? 


As  the  Samaritans  were  not  generally  disposed  to  receive  the 
Jews  into  their  houses,  Jesus  did  not  try  to  enter,  but  sat  down  by 
Jacob's  well,  and  sent  his  disciples  into  the  town  to  buy  some  neces- 
sary provisions.  The  prejudices  against  each  other  were  so  in- 
veterate that  they  never  asked  for  a  favor,  hence  the  woman  was 
surprised  when  Jesus  spoke  to  her.  They  might  buy  of  each  other, 
but  never  borrow  nor  receive  a  favor  or  gift,  nor  manifest  friendship 
in  any  way. 

But  Christ,  despising  all  such  prejudices  that  had  no  foundation 
either  in  equity  or  in  the  law  of  God,  asked  drink  of  the  Samaritan 
woman.  He  did  not  notice  the  woman's  narrow  prejudices,  but  di- 
rected her  attention  to  matters  of  greater  importance.  He  told  her 
though  she  should  refuse  him  the  small  favor  for  which  he  asked  be- 
cause he  was  a  Jew,  yet  he  was  ready  to  confer  far  greater  benefits 
on  her,  though  a  Samaritan.  The  living  water  to  which  Jesus  re- 
ferred, the  woman  did  not  understand. 


140 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


16  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Go,  call  thy  hus- 
band, and  come  hither. 

17  The  woman  answered  and  said,  I  have 
no  husband.  Jesus  said  unto  her,  Thou 
hast  well  said,  I  have  no  husband: 

18  For  thou  hast  had  five  husbands:  and 
he  whom  thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  hus- 
band: in  that  saidst  thou  truly. 

19  The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  I  per- 
ceive that  thou  art  a  prophet. 

28  The  woman  then  left  her  waterpot,  and 
went  her  way  into  the  city,  and  saith  to  the 
men. 


29  Come,  see  a  man,  which  told  me  all 
things  that  ever  I  did:  is  not  this  the 
Christ? 

39  And  many  of  the  Samaritans  of  that 
city  believed  on  him  for  the  saying  of  the 
woman,  which  testified,  He  told  me  all  that 
ever  I  did. 

40  So  when  the  Samaritans  were  come 
unto  him,  they  besought  him  that  he  would 
tarry  with  them:  and  he  abode  there  two 
days. 

41  And  many  more  believed  because  of 
his  own  word. 


The  woman  could  not  understand  Jesus'  words  because  she  had 
no  conviction  of  sin  nor  desire  for  a  purer,  better  life;  and  as  soon  as 
possible  she  changed  the  subject  of  the  conversation  from  her  pri- 
vate life  to  the  subjects  of  controversy  between  the  Jews  and  the 
Samaritans. 


John  via. 

2  And  early  in  the  morning  he  came 
again  into  the  temple,  and  all  the  people 
came  unto  him:  and  he  sat  down,  and 
taught  them. 

3  And  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  brought 
unto  him  a  woman  taken  in  adultery;  and 
when  they  had  set  her  in  the  midst, 

4  They  say  unto  him,  Master,  this  woman 
was  taken  in  adultery, 

5  Now  Moses  in  the  law  commanded  us, 
that  such  should  be  stoned:  but  what  say- 
est  thou? 

6  This  they  said,  tempting  him,  that  they 
might  have  to  accuse  him.  But  Jesus 
stooped  down,  and  with  his  finger  wrote  on 
the  ground,  as  though  he  heard  them  not. 

7  So  when  they  continued  asking  him,  he 


lifted  up  himself,  and  said  unto  them,  He 
that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him  first 
cast  a  stone  at  her. 

8  And  again  he  stooped  down,  and  wrote 
on  the  ground. 

9  And  they  which  heard  it,  being  con- 
victed by  their  own  conscience,  went  out 
one  by  one,  beginning  at  the  eldest,  even 
unto  the  last:  and  Jesus  was  left  alone,  and 
the  woman  standing  in  the  midst. 

10  He  said  unto  her,  Woman,  where  are 
those  thine  accusers?  hath  no  man  con- 
demned thee? 

11  She  said,  No  man,  Lord.  And  Jesus 
said  unto  her,  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee; 
go,  and  sin  no  more. 


The  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees  concocted  a  plan  to  draw  Jesus 
into  a  snare.  They  concluded  from  many  of  his  doctrines  that  he 
deemed  himself  authorized  to  alter  or  to  abrogate  the  commands  of 
Moses;  therefore  they  desired  his  opinion  as  to  the  fitting  punish- 
ment for  an  adulteress.  If  he  had  ordered  them  to  execute  her, 
they  would  doubtless  have  accused  him  to  the  Romans  of  assuming 
a  judicial  authority,  independent  of  their  government;  had  he  di- 
rected them  to  set  her  at  liberty,  they  would  have  represented  him 
to  the  people  as  an  enemy  to  the  law,  and  a  patron  of  the  most  in- 
famous characters;  and  had  he  referred  them  to  the  Roman  author- 


COMMENTS   ON  JOHN. 


141 


ity,  they  would  have  accused  him  to  the  multitude  as  a  betrayer  of 
their  Hberties, 


John  ix. 

And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man 
which  was  blind  from  his  birth. 

2  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying, 
Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man,  or  his  pa- 
rents, that  he  was  born  blind? 


3  Jesus  answered.  Neither  hath  this  man 
sinned,  nor  his  parents:  but  that  the  works 
of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in  him. 


A  prevalent  idea  of  the  Jews  was  that,  in  accord  with  the  ten 
commandments,  the  sins  of  the  parents  were  visited  upon  the  chil- 
dren. This  is  recognized  as  absolute  law  to-day;  but  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  all  afflictions  are  the  result  of  sin.  The  blindness  may 
have  resulted  from  a  combination  of  circumstances  beyond  the  con- 
trol of  the  parents.  The  statement  does  not  disprove  the  law  of 
transmission,  but  simply  shows  that  defects  are  not  always  the  result 
of  sin. 


John  xi. 

Now  a  certain  man  was  sick,  named 
Lazarus,  of  Bethany,  the  town  of  Mary  and 
her  sister  Martha. 

3  Therefore  his  sisters  sent  unto  him, 
saying.  Lord,  behold,  he  whom  thou  lovest 
is  sick. 

5  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sis- 
ter, and  Lazarus. 

6  When  he  had  heard  therefore  that  he 
was  sick,  he  abode  two  days  still  in  the 
same  place  where  he  was. 

17  When  Jesus  came,  he  found  that  he 
had  lain  in  the  grave  four  days  already. 

20  Martha,  as  soon  as  she  heard  that 
Jesus  was  coming,  went  and  met  him:  but 
Mary  sat  still  in  the  house. 

21  Then  said  Martha  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  if 
thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not 
died. 

22  But  I  know,  that  even  now,  whatso- 
ever thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  it 
thee. 

23  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Thy  brother  shall 
rise  again. 


24  Martha  saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  he 
shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the 
last  day. 

25  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life: 

28  And  she  went  her  way,  and  called 
Mary  her  sister,  saying.  The  Master  is 
come,  and  calleth  for  thee. 

29  As  soon  as  she  heard  that,  she  arose 
quickly,  and  came  unto  him. 

32  When  Mary  was  come  where  Jesus 
was,  and  saw  him,  she  fell  down  at  his 
feet,  saying  untc  him.  Lord,  if  thou  hadst 
been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died. 

35  Jesus  wept. 

36  Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold  how  he 
loved  him! 

41  Then  they  took  away  the  stone  from 
the  place  where  the  dead  was  laid. 

43  And  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
Lazarus,  come  forth. 

44  And  he  that  was  dead  came  forth. 


It  appears  that  Jesus  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  home  of  Mary, 
Martha  and  Lazarus,  and  felt  a  strong  friendship  for  them.  They 
lived  in  Bethany,  two  miles  from  Jerusalem.  Many  Jews  came  out 
from  the  city  to  express  their  sympathy.     Martha  did  not  fully  un- 


142 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


derstand  Jesus;  she  considered  him  as  a  prophet  who  wrought 
miracles  by  faith  and  prayer  in  the  same  manner  as  the  ancient 
prophets. 

The  grief  of  Mary,  the  tears  of  the  Jews,  and  his  own  warm 
friendship  for  the  sisters,  afifected  Jesus  himself  to  tears  and  groans. 
In  appealing  to  Divine  power,  Jesus  wished  to  show  the  unbelieving 
Jews  that  his  miracles  were  performed  by  influence  from  above  and 
not  by  the  spirit  of  evil,  to  which  source  they  attributed  his  wonder- 
ful works.  Many  who  were  said  to  witness  this  miracle  did  not  be- 
lieve. 

After  this  Jesus  again  rested  at  the  home  of  Mary,  where  she 
washed  his  feet  and  wiped  them  with  the  hair  of  her  head,  and  then 
anointed  him  with  costly  spices  from  an  alabaster  box.  He  then 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  passover. 


John  XX. 

The  first  day  of  the  week  cometh  Mary 
Magdalene  early,  when  it  was  yet  dark,  un- 
to the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  the  stone  taken 
away  from  the  sepulchre. 

2  Then  she  runneth,  and  cometh  to  Si- 
mon Peter,  and  to  the  other  disciple,  whom 
Jesus  loved,  and  saith  unto  them,  They 
have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the  sepul- 
chre, and  we  know  not  where  they  have 
laid  him. 

3  Peter  therefore  went  forth,  and  that 
other  disciple,  and  came  to  the  sepulchre. 

4  So  they  ran  both  together:  and  the 
other  disciple  did  outrun  Peter,  and  came 
first  to  the  sepulchre. 

5  And  he  stooping  down  and  looking  in, 
saw  the  linen  clothes  lying;  yet  went  he 
not  in. 

6  Then  cometh  Simon  Peter  following 
him,  and  went  into  the  sepulchre,  and 
seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie. 

7  And  the  napkin,  that  was  about  his 
head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  clothes,  but 
wrapped  together  in  a  place  by  itself. 

8  Then  went  in  also  that  other  disciple, 
which  came  first  to  the  sepulchre,  and  he 
saw,  and  believed. 

9  For  as  yet  they  knew  not  the  Scrip- 
ture, that  he  must  rise  again  from  the 
dead. 

10  Then  the  disciples  went  away  again 
unto  their  own  home. 


n  But  Mary  stood  without  at  the  sepul- 
chre weeping:  and  as  she  wept,  she  stooped 
down,  and  looked  into  the  sepulchre. 

12  And  seeth  two  angels  in  white  sitting, 
the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the 
feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain. 

13  And  they  say  unto  her.  Woman,  why 
wcepest  thou?  She  saith  unto  them.  Be- 
cause they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and 
I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him. 

14  And  when  she  had  thus  said,  she 
turned  herself  back,  and  saw  Jesus  stand- 
ing, and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus. 

15  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  why 
weepest  thou?  whom  seekest  thou?  She, 
supposing  him  to  be  the  gardener,  saith 
unto  him,  Sir,  if  thou  hast  borne  him 
hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him» 
and  I  will  take  him  away. 

16  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary.  She 
turned  herself,  and  saith  unto  him,  Rab- 
boni,  which  is  to  say,  Master. 

17  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Touch  me  not; 
for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father: 
but  go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them, 
I  ascend  unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father, 
and  to  my  God,  and  your  God. 

18  Mary  Magdalene  came  and  told  the 
disciples  that  she  had  seen  the  Lord,  and 
that  he  had  spoken  these  things  unto  her. 


Mary  appears  to  have  arrived  at  the  sepulchre  before  any  of  the 


COMMENTS   ON  JOHN.  143 

Other  women,  and  conversed  with  Jesus.  Though  the  disciples,  in 
visiting  the  tomb,  saw  nothing  but  cast-off  clothes,  yet  Mary  sees 
and  talks  with  angels  and  with  Jesus.  As  usual,  the  woman  is  al- 
ways most  ready  to  believe  miracles  and  fables,  however  extrava- 
gant and  though  beyond  all  human  comprehension.  Several  women 
purposed  to  be  at  the  tomb  at  sunrise  to  embalm  the  body. 

The  men  who  visited  the  tomb  saw  no  visions;  but  all  the  women 
saw  Jesus  and  the  angels,  though  the  men,  who  went  to  the  tomb 
twice,  saw  nothing.  Mary  arrived  at  the  tomb  before  light,  and 
waited  for  the  other  women;  but  seeing  some  one  approaching,  she 
supposed  he  was  the  person  employed  by  Joseph  to  take  care  of  the 
garden,  so  asked  him  what  had  been  done  to  him.  Though  speak- 
ing to  a  supposed  stranger,  she  did  not  mention  any  name.  Jesus 
then  called  her  by  name;  and  his  voice  and  his  address  made  him 
known  to  her.  Filled  with  joy  and  with  amazement,  she  called  him 
"Rabboni,"  which  signifies,  "teacher."  Jesus  said  unto  her,  "Touch 
me  not." 

This  finishes  the  consideration  of  the  four  Gospels — the  direct 
recorded  words  of  Jesus  upon  the  question  of  purity;  and  all  fur- 
ther references  should  harmonize,  in  spirit,  with  his  teachings,  and 
should  be  so  interpreted,  without  regard  to  contrary  assertions  by 
learned  but  unwise  commentators.  E.  C.  S. 


Is  it  not  astonishing  that  so  little  is  in  the  New  Testament  con- 
cerning the  mother  of  Christ?  My  own  opinion  is  that  she  was  an 
excellent  woman,  and  the  wife  of  Joseph,  and  that  Joseph  was  the 
actual  father  of  Christ.  I  think  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
that  such  was  the  opinion  of  the  authors  of  the  original  Gospels. 
Upon  any  other  hypothesis  it  is  impossible  to  account  for  their  hav- 
ing given  the  genealogy  of  Joseph  to  prove  that  Christ  was  of  the 
blood  of  David.  The  idea  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  or  in  any 
way  miraculously  produced,  was  an  afterthought,  and  is  hardly  en- 
titled now  to  serious  consideration.  The  Gospels  were  written  so 
long  after  the  death  of  Christ  that  very  little  was  known  of  him,  and 


144  ^^^   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


substantially  nothing  of  his  parents.  How  is  it  that  not  one  word 
is  said  about  the  death  of  Mary,  not  one  word  about  the  death  of 
Joseph?  How  did  it  happen  that  Christ  did  not  visit  his  mother 
after  his  resurrection?  The  first  time  he  speaks  to  his  mother  is 
when  he  was  twelve  years  old.  His  mother  having  told  him  that 
she  and  his  father  had  been  seeking  him,  he  replied:  "How  is  it 
that  ye  sought  me?  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  father's 
business?"  The  second  time  was  at  the  marriage  feast  in  Cana, 
when  he  said  to  her:  "Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee?"  And 
the  third  time  was  at  the  cross,  when  "Jesus,  seeing  his  mother 
standing  by  the  disciple  whom  he  loved,  said  to  her:  'Woman,  be- 
hold thy  son;'  and  to  the  disciple:  'Behold  thy  mother.'"  And 
this  is  all. 

The  best  thing  about  the  CathoHc  Church  is  the  deification  of 
Mary;  and  yet  this  is  denounced  by  Protestantism  as  idolatry. 
There  is  something  in  the  human  heart  that  prompts  man  to  tell  his 
faults  more  freely  to  the  mother  than  to  the  father.  The  cruelty  of 
Jehovah  is  softened  by  the  mercy  of  Mary. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  none  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  said  any- 
thing about  their  parents — that  we  know  absolutely  nothing  of  them? 
Is  there  any  evidence  that  they  showed  any  particular  respect  even 
for  the  mother  of  Christ?  Mary  Magdalene  is,  in  many  respects, 
the  tenderest  and  most  loving  character  in  the  New  Testatment. 
According  to  the  account,  her  love  for  Christ  knew  no  abatement, 
no  change — true  even  in  the  hopeless  shadow  of  the  cross.  Neither 
did  it  die  with  his  death.  She  waited  at  the  sepulchre ;  she  hastened 
in  the  early  morning  to  his  tomb;  and  yet  the  only  comfort  Christ 
^ave  to  this  true  and  loving  soul  lies  in  these  strangely  cold  and 
heartless  words:     "Touch  me  not."  Anon. 


THE    BOOK   OF   ACTS. 


Acts  V. 

But  a  certain  man  named  Ananias,  with 
Sapphira  his  wife,  sold  a  possession. 

2  And  kept  back  a  part  of  the  price,  and 
brought  a  certain  part,  and  laid  it  at  the 
apostles'  feet. 

3  But  Peter  said,  Ananias,  why  hath  Sa- 
tan filled  thine  heart  to  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  to  keep  back  part  of  the  price  of 
the  land? 

4  While  it  remained,  was  it  not  thine 
own?  and  after  it  was  sold,  was  it  not  in 
thine  own  power?  why  hast  thou  conceived 
this  thing  in  thine  heart?  Thou  hast  not 
iicd  unto  men,  but  unto  God. 

5  And  Ananias  hearing  the  words  fell 
down,  and  gave  up  the  ghost:  and  great 
fear  came  on  all  them  that  heard  these 
things. 


6  And  the  young  men  arose  and  carried 
him  out,  and  buried  him. 

7  And  it  was  about  the  space  of  three 
hours  after,  when  his  wife  not  knowing 
what  was  done,  came  in. 

8  And  Peter  answered  her.  Tell  me 
whether  ye  sold  the  land  for  so  much?  And 
she  said.  Yea,  for  so  much. 

9  Then  Peter  said  unto  her.  How  is  it 
that  ye  have  agreed  together  to  tempt  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord?  Behold,  the  feet  of 
them  which  have  buried  thy  husband  are  at 
the  door,  and  shall  carry  thee  out. 

ID  Then  she  fell  down  straightway  at  his 
feet,  and  yielded  up  the  ghost. 


THIS  book  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Luke  about  thirty 
years  after  the  death  of  Jesus,  as  an  appendix  to  the  Evangel- 
ists. It  contains  brief  mention  of  a  few  women  of  varied  char- 
acters and  fortunes.  We  have  the  usual  number  afflicted  with  re- 
ligious mysteries,  with  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  some  possessed  of 
the  devil,  who  promptly  comes  forth  at  the  commands  of  Jesus  and 
of  his  Apostles. 

The  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  was  very  peculiar.  This  ex- 
ample was  made,  not  of  avowed  enemies,  but  avowed  friends.  Many 
expositors  say  that  Ananias  had  made  a  vow  to  give  his  estate  for 
the  support  of  the  Christian  cause,  and  that  sacrilege  was  the  crime 
for  which  he  was  punished.  He  had,  from  corrupt  motives,  at- 
tempted to  impose  upon  the  Apostles  in  pretending  to  give  all  that 
he  had  to  the  church,  while  withholding  a  good  share  for  himself. 
He  had  evidently  instructed  his  wife  to  substantiate  his  assertions. 

145 


146 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


Obedience  of  one  responsible  being  to  another  may  ofttimes  prove 
dangerous,  even  if  the  command  comes  from  a  husband. 


Acts  ix, 

36  Now  there  was  at  Joppa  a  certain  dis- 
ciple named  Tabitha,  which  by  interpreta- 
tion is  called  Dorcas:  this  woman  was  full 
of  good  works  and  alms-deeds. 

37  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that 
she  was  sick  and  died. 

38  And  as  Lydda  was  night  to  Joppa,  and 
the  disciples  had  heard  that  Peter  was 
there,  they  sent  unto  him  two  men,  desiring 
him  to  come  to  them. 

39  Then  Peter  arose  and  went  with  them. 


and  they  brought  him  into  the  upper 
chamber:  and  all  the  widows  stood  weep- 
ing, and  shewing  the  garments  which  Dor- 
cas made. 

40  But  Peter  put  them  all  forth,  and 
kneeled  down,  and  prayed;  and  turning  him 
to  the  body  said,  Tabitha,  rise.  And  she 
opened  her  eyes:  and  when  she  saw  Peter, 
she  sat  up. 

41  And  when  he  had  called  the  saints  and 
widows,  he  presented  her  alive. 


Tabitha  was  called  by  this  name  among  the  Jews;  but  she  was 
known  to  the  Greeks  as  Dorcas.  She  was  considered  an  ornament 
to  her  Christian  profession ;  for  she  so  abounded  in  good  works  and 
alms-deeds  that  her  whole  life  was  devoted  to  the  wants  and  the 
needs  of  the  poor.  She  not  only  gave  away  her  substance,  but  she 
employed  her  time  and  her  skill  in  laboring  constantly  for  the  poor 
and  the  unfortunate.  Her  death  was  looked  upon  as  a  public  calam- 
ity. This  is  the  first  instance  of  any  Apostle  performing  a  miracle 
of  this  kind.  There  was  no  witness  to  this  miracle.  What  men 
teach  in  their  high  places,  such  women  as  Dorcas  illustrate  in  their 
lives. 


Acts  xti. 

12  And  he  came  into  the  house  of  Mary 
the  mother  of  John,  whose  surname  was 
Mark,  where  many  were  gathered  together 
praying. 

13  And  as  Peter  knocked  at  the  gate,  a 
damsel  came  to  hearken,  named  Rhoda. 

14  And  when  she  knew  Peter's  voice,  she 
opened  not  the  gate  for  gladness,  but  ran 
in,  and  told  how  Peter  stood  before  the 
gate. 


15  And  they  said  unto  her.  Thou  art  mad. 
But  she  constantly  affirmed  that  it  was  even 
so.    Then  they  said,  It  is  an  angel. 

16  But  Peter  continued  knocking:  and 
when  they  had  opened  the  door,  and  saw 
him,  they  were  astonished. 

17  But  he  declared  unto  them  how  the 
Lord  had  brought  him  out  of  the  prison. 
And  he  said.  Go  shew  these  things  unto 
James,  and  to  the  brethren. 


Herod  the  king,  at  this  time,  killed  James,  the  brother  of  John, 
and  cast  Peter  into  prison,  and  intended  to  destroy  the  other  Apostles 
as  soon  as  he  could  entrap  them.  Peter,  it  is  said,  escaped  from 
prison  by  the  miraculous  interposition  of  an  angel,  who  led  him  to 
the  gate  of  one  Mary,  the  sister  of  Barnabas,  where  Christians  often 
assembled  for  religious  worship.     Although  they  often  prayed  for 


COMMENTS   ON   ACTS. 


147 


Peter's  deliverance,  they  could  not  believe  Rhoda  when  she  said 
that  Peter  stood  knocking  at  the  gate. 


Acts  xvi. 

14  And  a  certain  woman  named  Lydia, 
a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira, 
which  worshiped  God,  heard  us;  whose 
heart  the  Lord  opened  unto  the  things 
which  were  spoken  of  Paul. 

15  And  when  she  was  baptized,  and  her 
household,  she  besought  us,  saying.  If  ye 
have  judged  me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord, 
come  into  my  house,  and  abide  there. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  we  went  to 
prayer,  a  certain  damsel  possessed  with  a 
spirit  of  divination  met  us,  which  brought 
her  masters  much  gain  by  soothsaying: 

17  The  same  followed  Paul  and  us,  and 
cried,  saying,  These  men  are  the  servants 
of  the  most  high  God. 


18  And  this  did  she  many  days.  Bu* 
Paul  said  to  the  spirit,  I  command  thee  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to  come  out  of 
her.    And  he  came  out  the  same  hour. 

ig  And  when  her  masters  saw  that  the 
hope  of  their  gains  was  gone,  they  caught 
Paul  and  Silas, 

20  And  brought  them  to  the  magistrates, 
saying,  these  men,  being  Jews,  do  exceecfc- 
ingly  trouble  our  city. 

22  And  the  multitude  rose  up  against 
them;  and  the  magistrates  rent  ofl  their 
clothes,  and  commanded  to  beat  them. 

23  And  when  they  had  laid  many  stripes- 
upon  them,  they  cast  them  into  prisoiK 
charging  the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely. 


Lydia,  a  native  Thyatiran,  who  at  this  time  resided  at  Philippi, 
was  a  merchant  who  trafficked  in  purple  clothes,  which  were  held  in 
great  estimation.  She  was  a  Gentile,  but  was  proselyted  to  the  Jew- 
ish religion,  beHeved  in  the  teachings  of  Paul  and  was  baptized 
with  her  household.  She  was  a  person  in  affluent  circumstances; 
and  being  of  a  generous  disposition,  was  very  hospitable.  As  the 
Apostles  were  poorly  accommodated  elsewhere,  she  entertained  them 
in  her  own  house. 

The  Apostles  and  their  friends  on  their  way  to  the  oratory,  where 
they  went  to  worship,  were  met  by  a  female  slave  who  was  possessed 
with  a  spirit  of  divination  and  uttered  ambiguous  predictions.  She 
had  acquired  great  reputation  as  an  oracle  or  fortune-teller  and  for 
making  wonderful  discoveries.  By  this  practice  she  brought  heir 
masters  considerable  gain  and  was  very  valuable  to  them.  When 
Paul  cast  out  the  evil  spirit  and  restored  the  maiden  to  her  norma? 
condition  of  body  and  mind,  her  master  was  full  of  wrath,  as  she 
was  no  longer  of  any  value  to  him ;  and  he  accused  Paul  before  tlic 
magistrates.  The  people  were  all  stirred  with  indignation;  so  they 
stripped  Paul  and  Silas,  scourged  them  severely;  and,  without  triaJ, 
the  magistrates  threw  them  into  prison. 


148 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


Acts  xi'iii. 

After  these  things  Paul  departed  from 
Athens,  and  came  to  Corinth; 

2  And  found  a  certain  Jew  named  Aquila, 
born  in  Pontus,  lately  come  from  Italy, 
with  his  wife  Priscilla,  (because  that  Clau- 
dius had  commanded  all  Jews  to  depart 
from  Rome,) 

3  And  because  he  was  of  the  same  craft, 
he  abode  with  them,  and  wrought:  (for  by 
their  occupation  they  were  tentmakers). 

i8  And  Paul  after  this  tarried  there  yet  a 
good  while,  and  then  took  his  leave  of  the 
brethren,  and  sailed  thence  into  Syria,  and 
with  him  Priscilla  and  Aquila; 


24  And  a  certain  Jew  named  Apollos, 
born  at  Alexandria,  an  eloquent  man,  and 
mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  came  to  Ephesus. 

25  This  man  was  instructed  in  the  way  ot 
the  Lord;  and  being  fervent  in  the  spirit, 
he  spake  and  taught  diligently  the  things 
of  the  Lord,  knowing  only  the  baptism  of 
John. 

26  And  he  began  to  speak  boldly  in  the 
synagogue:  whom  when  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla had  heard,  they  took  him  and  ex- 
pounded the  way  of  God  more  perfectly. 


It  was  an  excellent  custom  of  those  days  for  educated  people  to  be 
also  instructed  in  some  mechanical  trade.  This  served  them  as  an 
amusement  in  prosperity,  and  was  a  certain  resource  in  case  other 
prospects  failed.  Thus  Paul  was  now  prepared  to  support  himself 
in  an  emergency.  He  was  frequently  compelled  to  work  with  his 
hands  to  provide  for  his  own  necessities. 

Apollos  was  a  native  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  a  ready  and  grace- 
ful speaker,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  Coming 
to  Ephesus,  he  boldly  preached  in  the  synagogue  in  the  presence  of 
Aquila  and  of  Priscilla;  and  they  seeing  his  ability,  zeal  and  piety, 
said  nothing  to  his  disadvantage,  though  they  perceived  that  his 
views  of  the  Christian  doctrines  were  very  imperfect.  So  they 
sought  his  acquaintance  and  instructed  him  more  fully  in  the  gospel 
of  Jesus.  He,  with  great  humility,  received  their  instructions,  for 
he  had  never  been  much  among  Christians ;  and  no  one  knew  when 
or  by  whom  he  was  baptized. 


Acts  xxi. 

8  And  the  next  day  we  that  were  of  Paul's 
company  departed,  and  came  unto  Cesarea, 
and  we  entered  into  the  house  of  Philip  the 
evangelist,  which  was  one  of  the  seven; 
and  abode  with  him. 


9  And  the  same  man  had  four  daughters, 
virgins,  which  did  prophesy. 


Philip,  one  of  the  seven  deacons  in  Cesarea,  was  also  an  Evangel- 
ist, and  had  the  peculiar  honor  of  having  four  daughters,  all  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  prophecy;  and  perhaps  they  gave  intimations  to  Paul 
of  his  approaching  trials.     With  Philip's  four  daughters,  all  endowed 


COMMENTS  ON  ACTS. 


149 


with  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  Priscilla  as  a  teacher  of  great  prin- 
ciples to  the  orators  of  her  time,  and  one  of  Paul's  chosen  travelling 
companions,  women  are  quite  highly  honored  in  the  Book  of  Acts, 
if  we  except  the  tragedy  of  the  unfortunate  wife  who  obeyed  her 
husband. 


Acts  xxiv. 

24  And  after  certain  days,  when  Felix 
came  with  his  wife  Drusilla,  which  was  a 
Jewess,  he  sent  for  Paul,  and  heard  him 
concerning  the  faith  in  Christ. 

25  And  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness, 


temperance,  and  judgment  to  come,  Felix 
trembled,  and  answered,  Go  thy  way  for 
this  time;  when  I  have  a  convenient  sea- 
son, I  will  call  for  thee. 


Drusilla  was  a  daughter  of  that  Herod  who  beheaded  James,  the 
brother  of  John,  and  sister  to  King  Agrippa,  She  was  married  to 
the  king  of  the  Emerines,  Azizas;  but  she  left  her  husband  and  went 
to  live  with  Felix.  He  and  Drusilla  were  curious  to  hear  more  au- 
thentic accounts  of  Jesus  and  his  doctrines.  They  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  much  impressed  with  the  purity  of  his  teachings.  Their  curios- 
ity did  not  arise  from  a  love  of  the  truth,  nor  from  a  desire  for  a 
higher,  better  life,  but  was  a  mere  curiosity,  for  which  it  is  probable 
that  Felix  was  responsible,  as  Drusilla  doubtless  asked  her  husband 
at  home  all  she  desired  to  know.  E.  C.  S. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Edwin  Hatch  expresses  the  latest  decision  of  his- 
torical theology  concerning  Paul,  in  frankly  confessing:  "His  life  at 
Rome  and  all  the  rest  of  his  history  are  enveloped  in  mists  from  which 
no  single  gleam  of  certain  light  emerges.  .  .  .  The  place  and 
occasion  of  his  death  are  not  less  uncertain  than  are  the  facts  of  his 
later  life.  .  .  .  The  chronology  of  the  rest  of  his  life  is  as  un- 
certain as  the  date  of  his  death.  We  have  no  means  of  knowing 
when  he  was  born,  or  how  long  he  lived,  or  at  what  date  the  several 
events  of  his  life  took  place."  Exactly  the  same  may  be  said  of 
Peter.  The  strongest  probability  is  that  Paul  and  Peter  were  two 
obscure  men  who  lived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first,  or  beginning  of 
the  second  century,  neither  of  whom  could  have  seen  the  first  cen- 
tury Jesus.     It  can  easily  be  shown  that  the  Christian  Church  admit- 


ISO  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

ted  women  into  her  regularly  ordained  ministry  during  the  first  two 
hundred  years  of  Christianity.  Whether  Bishop  Doane  is  ignorant 
of  this  fact,  or  whether  he  is  merely  presuming  upon  women's  ignor- 
ance thereof,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  But  one  thing  is  clear,  and  that 
is,  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  all  women  should  be  informed  of 
the  true  status  of  their  sex  in  the  ministry  of  the  primitive  Church. 

The  first  important  truth  for  them  to  learn  concerning  the  ques- 
tion is  that  there  is  a  missing  link  of  some  five  hundred  years  be- 
tween the  close  of  that  body  of  literature  known  to  us  as  the  "Old 
Testament"  and  the  compilation  of  that  collection  of  letters,  nar- 
ratives, etc.,  now  presented  to  us  as  the  "New  Testament."  Girls 
of  Christian  families  are  commonly  inoculated  in  their  ignorant,  and 
therefore  helplessly  credulous  youth,  with  unquestioning  belief  that 
the  New  Testament  was  written  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  by 
disciples  who  were  contemporary  with  Jesus,  and  that  Peter  and 
Paul  were  first  century  Christians,  the  former  of  whom  had  person- 
ally known  and  followed  Jesus,  while  the  latter  was  a  convert  from 
Judaism  after  Jesus'  death,  never  having  seen  the  teacher  himself. 

Yet  he  is,  indeed,  a  very  ignorant  ecclesiastic  who  to-day  is  not 
perfectly  well  aware  that  the  above  belief  is  pure  theory,  resting  on 
nothing  more  stable  than  vague  conjecture,  irresponsible  tradition, 
and  slowly  evolving  fable.  Among  scholarly  Christian  theologians 
no  questions  are  now  more  unsettled  than  are  the  queries:  Who 
wrote  the  Gospels?  In  which  of  the  first  three  centuries  did  they 
assume  their  present  shape?  And  at  what  time  did  Peter  and  Paul 
live  and  quarrel  with  each  other  concerning  Christian  polity? 

As  for  the  passages  now  found  in  the  New  Testament  epistles  of 
Paul,  concerning  women's  non-equality  with  men  and  duty  of  sub- 
jection, there  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  they  are  bare-faced  for- 
geries, interpolated  by  unscrupulous  bishops,  during  the  early 
period  in  which  a  combined  and  determined  effort  was  made  to  re- 
duce women  to  silent  submission,  not  only  in  the  Church,  but  also  in 
the  home  and  in  the  State.  A  most  laudably  intended  attempt  to 
excuse  Paul  for  the  inexcusable  passages  attributed  to  his  author- 
ship has  been  made  by  a  clergyman,  who,  accepting  them  as  genuine 
Pauline  utterances,  endeavors  to  show  that  they  were  meant  to  apply 


COMMENTS   ON  ACTS.  151 

only  to  Greek  female  converts,  natives  of  Corinth,  and  that  the  com- 
mand to  cover  the  head  and  to  keep  silent  in  public  was  warranted, 
both  because  veiling  the  head  and  face  was  a  Grecian  custom,  and 
because  the  women  of  Corinth  were  of  notoriously  bad  character. 
In  support  of  this  theory  our  modern  apologist  quotes  the  testimony 
of  numerous  writers  of  antiquity  who  denounced  Corinthian  profli- 
gacy. But,  setting  aside  the  fact  that  the  men  of  Corinth  must  al- 
ways have  been,  at  least,  as  bad  as  the  women,  and  that  a  sorry  case 
would  be  made  out  for  Paul,  if  it  were  on  the  score  of  morals  that  he 
ordered  Greek  women  to  subject  themselves  to  such  men,  there  are 
yet  two  serious  impediments  in  the  way  of  this  theory.  In  the  first 
place,  that  wealthy  and  luxurious  Corinth  to  which  the  writers  quoted 
refer,  was  no  longer  in  existence  in  Paul's  time;  146  B.  C.  it  was  con- 
quered by  the  Romans,  who  killed  the  men,  carried  the  women  and 
children  into  slavery,  and  levelled  the  dwellings  to  the  ground.  For 
a  whole  century  the  site  of  the  once  famous  city  remained  a  desolate 
waste,  but  about  46  B.  C.  it  was  colonized  by  some  Roman  immi- 
grants, and  a  Romanized  city,  with  Roman  customs,  it  was  when 
Paul  knew  it.  Now,  not  only  did  the  Roman  women  go  unveiled, 
mingling  freely  in  all  public  places  with  men  (a  fact  which  Paul,  as 
citizen  of  a  Roman  province  must  have  known),  but  Paul  specially 
commends  the  Greek  woman,  Phebe,  whom  he  endorses  as  minister 
of  the  Church  in  the  Greek  city,  Cenchrea  (a  seaport  within  a  few 
miles  of  Corinth),  and  in  Acts,  chapter  17,  we  are  explicitly  told  that 
the  Greek  converts  made  by  Paul,  in  Greece,  were  "chief  women," 
"honorable  women." 

This  is  sufBcient  refutation  of  the  argument  of  the  clergyman 
who  strives  to  clear  the  character  of  Paul  at  the  expense  of  the 
character  of  the  women  of  Corinth.  E.  B.  D. 


EPISTLE  TO  THE   ROMANS. 


Romans  xvi. 

I  commend  unto  you  Phebe  our  sister, 
which  is  a  servant  of  the  church  which  is  at 
Cenchrea: 

3  That  ye  receive  her  in  the  Lord,  as  be- 
cometh  saints,  and  that  ye  assist  her  in 
■whatsoever  business  she  hath  need  of  you; 
for  she  hath  been  a  succourer  of  many,  and 
of  myself  also. 

3  Greet  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  my  helpers 
in  Christ  Jesus: 

4  Who  have  for  my  life  laid  down  their 
own  necks:    unto   whom   not  only   I   give 


thanks,   but  also  all   the   churches   of  the 
Gentiles. 

6  Greet  Mary,  who  bestowed  much  labor 
on  us. 

12  Salute  Tryphena  and  Tryphosa,  who 
labour  in  the  Lord.  Salute  the  beloved 
Persis,  which  laboured  much  in  the  Lord. 

13  Salute  Rufus,  chosen  in  the  Lord,  and 
his  mother  and  mine. 

IS  Salute  Philologus,  and  Julia,  Nereus 
and  his  sister,  and  Olympas,  and  all  the 
saints  which  are  with  them. 


CENCHREA  was  the  seaport  of  Corinth,  where  a  separate 
church  was  founded.  Phebe  was  a  deaconess,  and  was  prob- 
ably employed  in  visiting  the  sick  and  in  teaching  the  women 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  She  appears  to  have  been  a  woman 
in  good  circumstances,  and  probably  had  more  than  ordinary  in- 
telligence and  education.  Even  Paul  acknowledged  himself  under 
great  obligations  to  her.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  risked  their  lives 
in  protecting  the  Apostles  at  Corinth  and  Ephesus.  So  Paul  sent 
his  affectionate  salutations  and  good  wishes  to  all  the  women  who 
had  helped  to  build  up  the  churches  and  spread  the  Gospel  of  Christ- 
ianity. 

In  good  works  men  have  always  found  a  reserved  force  in  the 
women  of  their  generation.  Paul  seems  to  have  been  specially  mind- 
ful of  all  who  had  received  and  hospitably  entertained  him.  Tlie 
men  of  our  times  have  been  equally  thankful  to  women  for  serving 
them,  for  hospitable  entertainment,  generous  donations  to  the  priest- 
hood, lifting  church  debts,  etc.,  and  are  equally  ready  to  remand 
them  to  their  "divinely  appointed  sphere,"  whenever  women  claim 
an  equal  voice  in  church  creeds  and  discipline.  Then  the  Marys, 
the  Phebes,  and  the  Priscillas  are  ordered  to  keep  silence  and  to  dis- 
cuss all  questions  with  their  husbands  at  home,  taking  it  for  granted 
that  all  men  are  logical  and  wise,  E.  C.  S. 

152 


COMMENTS   ON  ROMANS.  153 

Martin  Luther  had  good  cause  to  declare:  "There  is  something 
in  the  office  of  a  bishop  which  is  dreadfully  demoralizing.  Even 
good  men  change  their  natures  at  consecration;  Satan  enters  into 
them,  as  he  entered  into  Judas,  as  soon  as  they  have  taken  the  sop." 
But  to  return  to  the  primitive  Church,  a  famous  Apostle  of  that 
simple  era  was  Priscilla,  a  Jewess,  who  was  one  of  the  theologi- 
cal instructors  of  Apollos  (the  fellow-minister,  or  fellow-servant, 
to  whom  Paul  refers  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians).  There  is 
strong  reason  to  believe  that  the  Apostle  Priscilla,  in  co-operation 
with  her  husband,  the  Apostle  Aquila,  performed  the  important  task 
of  founding  the  Church  of  Rome:  for  Paul,  writing  to  the  Christians, 
admits  that  he  himself  has  not  yet  visited  that  city ;  there  is  no  proof 
whatever  that  Peter  ever  went  to  Rome  at  all  (but,  on  the  contrary, 
much  proof  that  he  wished  to  confine  Christianity  to  Jewish  con- 
verts); and  yet  Paul,  hailing  Priscilla  by  the  current  term  which 
specially  active  Apostles  and  bishops  used  in  addressing  other  spe- 
cially active  workers  in  the  Apostolate,  "Helper  in  Christ  Jesus," 
eulogizes  her  as  one  known,  gratefully,  by  "all  the  churches  of  the 
Gentiles,"  and  recognizes  a  Church  of  Rome  as  established  in  Pris- 
cilla's  own  house  (see  Paul's  letter  to  the  Romans,  chapter  16).  It 
is  highly  probable  that  that  was  the  tiny  acorn  from  which  has  grown 
the  present  great  oak — the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  would 
profit  much  by  more  remembrance  and  imitation  of  the  modest  and 
undogmatic  women  who  helped  to  give  it  being  and  who  nursed  it 
through  its  infancy. 

The  inability  of  modern  men  to  comprehend  the  position  of  wo- 
men in  the  primitive  Church,  is  strikingly  shown  in  Chalmers'  com- 
mentary on  the  fact  that  Paul  used  exactly  the  same  title  in  address- 
ing Priscilla  that  he  uses  in  greeting  Urbane.  Although  conceding 
that  Priscilla  had  shared  the  work  of  an  Apostle  in  teaching  Apollos 
"the  way  of  God  more  perfectly,"  and,  although  he  knows  nothing 
whatever  of  Urbane's  work,  yet  Chalmers  unhesitatingly  concludes 
that  Urbane's  help  to  Paul  must  have  been  in  things  spiritual,  but  that 
Priscilla's  must  have  been  in  regard  to  things  temporal  only:  and,  as 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  an  inseparable  couple,  poor  Aquila,  too,  is 
relegated  to  Priscilla's  assumedly  inferior  position!     There  is  not. 


154 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


however,  the  slightest  reason  for  such  a  conclusion  by  Chalmers. 
It  is  manifestly  due  to  the  modern  prejudice  which  renders  the  Paul- 
worshipping  male  Protestants  incapable  of  comprehending  that  "Our 
Great  Apostle,"  Paul,  was  not  a  great  Apostle  at  all,  in  those  days, 
but  a  simple,  self-sent  tent-maker  with  a  vigorous  spirit,  who  gladly 
shared  the  "Apostolic  dignity"  with  all  the  good  women  he  could 
rally  to  his  assistance.  Chalmers  conjectures  that  if  Priscilla  really 
did  help  Paul,  it  must  have  been  as  "a  teacher  of  women  and  chil- 
dren," even  while  the  fact  stares  him  in  the  face  that  she  was  a  recog- 
nized teacher  of  the  man  whom  Paul  specially  and  emphatically  pro- 
nounces his  own  equal.  (Compare  Acts,  chap.  i8,  v.  26,  with  ist 
Cor.,  chap.  3.) 

To  one  who  uses  unbiassed  common  sense  in  regard  to  the  New 
Testament  records,  there  can  be  no  question  of  women's  activity  and 
prominence  in  the  early  ministry.  Paul  not  only  virtually  pro- 
nounces Priscilla  a  fellow- Apostle  and  fellow-bishop  (Romans,  chap. 
16,  verses  3-5),  but  specially  commends  Phebe,  a  Greek  woman,  as 
a  minister  (diakonos),  which,  as  we  have  seen,  may  be  legitimately 
interpreted  either  presbyter,  bishop,  or  Apostle.  That  it  was  well 
understood,  throughout  the  whole  Church,  that  women  had  shared  the 
labors  of  the  Apostles,  is  evidenced  by  Chrysostom's  specific  eulogy 
thereupon.  Phebe  was  the  bishop  of  the  Church  in  Cenchrea,  and 
that  she  was  both  a  powerful  and  useful  overseer  in  the  episcopate, 
Paul  testifies  in  affirming  that  she  had  not  only  been  a  helper  to  him, 
but  to  many  others  also.  (Romans,  chap.  16,  verses  1-2.)  Address- 
ing that  first  Church  of  Rome  (which  was  in  the  house  of  Priscilla 
and  Aquila  before  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  the  barely-mentioned  Linus, 
are  heard  of  in  Rome),  Paul  indicates  the  equality  of  male  and  female 
Apostles  by  mentioning  in  one  and  the  same  category  Priscilla  and 
Aquila,  Andronicus  and  Junia,  Mary,  "who  bestowed  much  labor 
among  you,"  Amphis,  Urbane,  Tryphena  and  Tr)>phosa,  Persis, 
Julia,  Rufus  and  Hermas.  E.  B.  D. 


EPISTLES  TO  THE   CORINTHIANS. 


J  Corinthians  vii. 

2  Let  every  man  have  his  own  wife,  and 
let  every  woman  have  her  own  husband. 

3  Let  the  husband  render  unto  the  wife 
due  benevolence:  and  likewise  also  the  wife 
unto  the  husband. 

10  And  unto  the  married  I  command,  yet 
not  I,  but  the  Lord,  Let  not  the  wife  de- 
part from  her  husband: 

11  But  if  she  depart,  let  her  remain  un- 
married, or  be  reconciled  to  her  husband. 
and  let  not  the  husband  put  away  his  wife. 

L2  But  to  the  rest  speak  I,  not  the  Lord: 
If  any  brother  hath  a  wife  that  believeth 


not:  and  she  be  pleased  to  dwell  with  him, 
let  him  not  put  her  away. 

13  And  the  woman  which  hath  a  husband 
that  believeth  not,  and  if  he  be  pleased  to 
dwell  with  her,  let  her  not  leave  him. 

14  For  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife 
is  sanctified  by  the  husband:  else  were  your 
children  unclean:  but  now  are  they  holy. 

16  For  what  knowest  thou,  O  wife, 
whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  husband?  or 
how  knowest  thou,  O  man,  whether  thou 
shalt  save  thy  wife? 


THE  people  appear  to  have  been  specially  anxious  to  know  what 
the  Christian  idea  was  in  regard  to  the  question  of  marriage. 
The  Pythagoreans  taught  that  marriage  is  unfavorable  to  high 
intellectual  development.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Pharisees  taught 
that  it  is  sinful  for  a  man  to  live  unmarried  beyond  his  twentieth 
year.  The  Apostles  allowed  that  in  many  cases  it  might  be  wise  for 
a  man  to  live  unmarried,  as  he  could  be  more  useful  to  others,  pro- 
vided that  he  were  able  to  live  with  that  entire  chastity  which  the 
single  life  required. 

The  Apostle  says  that  Christians  should  not  marry  unbelievers, 
but  if  either  should  change  his  or  her  opinions  after,  he  would  not 
advise  separation,  as  they  might  sanctify  each  other,  Scott  thinks 
that  the  children  are  no  more  holy  with  one  unbelieving  parent,  than 
when  both  are  unbelieving;  and  he  has  not  much  faith  in  their  sancti- 
fying each  other,  except  in  a  real  change  of  faith.  A  union  with  an 
unbeliever  would  occasion  grief  and  trouble,  yet  that  ought  pa- 
tiently to  be  endured,  for  God  might  make  use  of  the  unbelieving 
wife  or  husband  as  an  instrument  in  converting  the  other  by  afifec- 

155 


IS6  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

tionate  and  conscientious  behavior;   as  this  might  not  be  the  case, 
there  is  no  reason  to  oppose  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage. 

There  are  no  restrictions  in  the  Scriptures  on  divorced  persons 
marrying  again,  though  many  improvised  by  human  laws  are  spoken 
of  as  in  the  Bible.  E.  C.  S. 


In  this  chapter  Paul  laments  that  all  men  are  not  bachelors  like 
himself;  and  in  the  second  verse  of  that  chapter  he  gives  the  only 
reason  for  which  he  was  willing  that  men  and  women  should  marry. 
He  advised  all  the  unmarried  and  all  widows  to  remain  as  he  was. 
Paul  sums  up  the  whole  matter,  however,  by  telling  those  who  have 
wives  or  husbands  to  stay  with  them — as  necessary  evils  only  to  be 
tolerated;  but  sincerely  regrets  that  anybody  was  ever  married,  and 
finally  says  that,  "they  that  have  wives  should  be  as  though  they  had 
none;"  because,  in  his  opinion,  "he  that  is  unmarried  careth  for  the 
things  that  belong  to  the  Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord ;  but  he 
that  is  married  careth  for  the  things  that  are  of  the  world,  how  he 
please  his  wife." 

"There  is  this  difference,  also,"  he  tells  us,  "between  a  wife  and  a 
virgin.  The  unmarried  woman  careth  for  the  things  of  the  Lord, 
that  she  may  be  holy  both  in  body  and  spirit;  but  she  that  is  married 
careth  for  the  things  of  the  world,  how  she  may  please  her  husband." 
Of  course,  it  is  contended  that  these  things  have  tended  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  woman.  The  idea  that  it  is  better  to  love  the  Lord  than  to 
love  your  wife  or  husband  is  infinitely  absurd.  Nobody  ever  did 
love  the  Lord — nobody  can — until  he  becomes  acquainted  with  him. 
Saint  Paul  also  tells  us  that  "man  is  the  image  and  glory  of  God; 
but  woman  is  the  glory  of  man."  And,  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining 
this  position,  he  says:  "For  the  man  is  not  of  the  woman,  but  the 
woman  of  the  man;  neither  was  the  man  created  for  the  woman,  but 
the  woman  for  the  man."  Of  course  we  can  all  see  that  man  could 
have  gotten  along  well  enough  without  woman.  And  yet  this  is 
called  "inspired!"  and  this  Apostle  Paul,  is  supposed  to  have  known 


COMMENTS   ON   CORINTHIANS. 


157 


more  than  all  the  people  now  upon  the  earth.     No  wonder  Paul  at 
last  was  constrained  to  say:     "We  are  fools  for  Christ's  sake." 

Anon. 


1  Corinthians  xi. 

3  But  I  would  have  you  know,  that  the 
head  of  every  man  is  Christ ;  and  the  head 
of  the  woman  is  the  man;  and  the  head  of 
Christ  is  God. 

4  Every  man  praying  or  prophesying, 
having  his  head  covered,  dishonoureth  his 
head. 

5  But  every  woman  that  prayeth  or  pro- 
phesieth  with  her  head  uncovered  dishon- 
oureth her  head. 

7  For  a  man  indeed  ought  not  to  cover 
his  head,  forasmuch  as  he  is  the  image 
and  glory  of  God:  but  the  woman  is  the 
glory  of  the  man. 

8  For  the  man  is  not  of  the  woman;  but 
the  woman  of  the  man. 


9  Neither  was  the  man  created  for  the 
woman;  but  the  woman  for  the  man. 

10  For  this  cause  ought  the  woman  to 
have  power  on  her  head  because  of  the 
angels. 

11  Nevertheless  neither  is  the  man  with- 
out the  woman,  neither  the  woman  without 
the  man,  in  the  Lord. 

13  Judge  in  yourselves:  is  it  comely  that 
a  woman  pray  unto  God  uncovered? 

14  Doth  not  even  nature  itself  teach  you, 
that,  if  a  man  have  long  hair,  it  is  a  shame 
unto  him? 

15  But  if  a  woman  have  long  hair,  it  is  a 
glory  to  her:  for  her  hair  is  given  her  for  a 
covering. 


According  to  the  custom  of  those  days  a  veil  on  the  head  was  a 
token  of  respect  to  superiors;  hence  for  a  woman  to  lay  aside  her 
veil  was  to  affect  authority  over  the  man.  The  shaving  of  the  head 
was  a  disgraceful  punishment  inflicted  on  women  of  bad  repute;  it 
not  only  deprived  them  of  a  great  beauty,  but  also  of  the  badge  of 
virtue  and  honor. 

Though  these  directions  appear  to  be  very  frivolous,  even  for 
those  times,  they  are  much  more  so  for  our  stage  of  civilization.  Yet 
the  same  customs  prevail  in  our  day  and  are  enforced  by  the  Church, 
as  of  vital  consequence;  their  non-observance  so  irreligious  that  it 
would  exclude  a  woman  from  the  church.  It  is  not  a  mere  social 
fashion  that  allows  men  to  sit  in  church  with  their  heads  uncovered 
and  women  with  theirs  covered,  but  a  requirement  of  canon  law  of 
vital  significance,  showing  the  superiority,  the  authority,  the  head- 
ship of  man,  and  the  humility  and  the  subservience  of  woman.  The 
aristocracy  in  social  life  requires  the  same  badge  of  respect  of  all  fe- 
male servants.  In  Europe  they  uniformly  wear  caps,  and  in  many 
families  in  America,  though  under  protest  after  learning  its  signifi- 
cance. 


158  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

It  is  certainly  high  time  that  educated  women  in  a  Republic 
should  rebel  against  a  custom  based  on  the  supposition  of  their 
heaven-ordained  subjection.  Jesus  is  always  represented  as  having 
long,  curling  hair,  and  so  is  the  Trinity.  Imagine  a  painting  of  these 
Gods  all  with  clipped  hair.  Flowing  robes  and  beautiful  hair  add 
greatly  to  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  their  pictures.  E.  C.  S. 


The  injunctions  of  St.  Paul  have  had  such  a  decided  influence  in 
fixing  the  legal  status  of  women,  that  it  is  worth  our  while  to  con- 
sider their  source.  In  dealing  with  this  question  we  must  never 
forget  that  the  majority  of  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  were 
not  really  written  or  published  by  those  whose  names  they  bear. 
Ancient  writers  considered  it  quite  permissible  for  a  man  to  put  out 
letters  under  the  name  of  another,  and  thus  to  bring  his  own  ideas 
before  the  world  under  the  protection  of  an  honored  sponsor.  It  is 
not  usually  claimed  that  St.  Paul  was  the  originator  of  the  great  re- 
ligious movement  called  Christianity;  but  there  is  a  strong  belief 
that  he  was  Divinely  inspired.  His  inward  persuasions,  and  espe- 
cially his  visions,  appeared  as  a  gift  or  endowment  which  had  the 
force  of  inspiration;  therefore,  his  mandates  concerning  women 
have  a  strong  hold  upon  the  popular  mind;  and  when  opponents  to 
the  equality  of  the  sexes  are  put  to  bay,  they  glibly  quote  his  injunc- 
tions. 

We  congratulate  ourselves  that  we  may  shift  some  of  these  Bibli- 
cal arguments  that  have  such  a  sinister  effect  from  their  firm  founda- 
tion. He  who  claims  to  give  a  message  must  satisfy  us  that  he  has 
himself  received  such  a  message.  The  origin  of  the  command  that 
women  should  cover  their  heads  is  found  in  an  old  Jewish  or  Hebrew 
legend  which  appears  in  literature  for  the  first  time  in  Genesis  vi. 
There  we  are  told  that  the  sons  of  God,  that  is,  the  angels,  took  to 
wives  the  daughters  of  men,  and  begat  the  giants  and  the  heroes  who 
were  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  flood.  The  Rabbins  held 
that  the  way  in  which  the  angels  got  possession  of  women  was  by 
laying  hold  of  their  hair;  they  accordingly  warned  women  to  cover 


COMMENTS   ON   CORINTHIANS^. 


159 


their  heads  in  public  so  that  the  angels  might  not  get  possession  of 
them. 

Paul  merely  repeats  this  warning,  which  he  must  often  have 
heard  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  who  was  at  that  time  prince  or  presi- 
dent of  the  Sanhedrim,  telling  women  to  have  a  power  (that  is,  pro- 
tection) on  their  heads  because  of  the  angels :  "For  this  cause  ought 
the  woman  to  have  power  on  her  head  because  of  the  angels."  Thus 
the  command  had  its  origin  in  an  absurd  old  myth.  This  legend 
will  be  found  fully  treated  in  a  German  pamphlet,  "Die  Paulinische 
Angolologie  und  Daemonologie."     Otto  Everling,  Gottingen,  1883. 

If  the  command  to  keep  silence  in  the  churches  has  no  higher 
origin  than  that  to  keep  covered  in  public,  should  so  much  weight 
be  given  it,  or  should  it  be  so  often  quoted  as  having  Divine  sanc- 
tion? L.  S. 


/  Corinthians  xiv. 

34  Let  your  women  keep  silence  in  the 
churches:  for  it  is  not  permitted  unto  them 
to  speak;  but  they  are  commanded  to  be 
under  obedience,  as  also  saith  the  law. 


35  And  if  they  will  learn  anything,  let 
them  ask  their  husbands  at  home:  for  it  is 
a  shame  for  woman  to  speak  in  the  church. 


The  church  at  Corinth  was  peculiarly  given  to  diversion  and  to 
disputation;  and  women  were  apt  to  join  in  and  to  ask  many  trouble- 
some questions;  hence  they  were  advised  to  consult  their  husbands 
at  home.  The  Apostle  took  it  for  granted  that  all  men  were  wise 
enough  to  give  to  women  the  necessary  information  on  all  subjects. 
Others,  again,  advise  wives  never  to  discuss  knotty  points  with 
their  husbands ;  for  if  they  should  chance  to  differ  from  each  other, 
that  fact  might  give  rise  to  much  domestic  infelicity.  There  is  such 
a  wide  difference  of  opinion  on  this  point  among  wise  men,  that 
perhaps  it  would  be  as  safe  to  leave  women  to  be  guided  by  their  own 
unassisted  common  sense.  E.  C.  S. 


EPISTLES  TO  THE  EPHESIANS  AND 
PHILLIPPIANS. 


Ephesians  v. 

22  Wives,  submit  yourselves  unto  your 
own  husbands,  as  unto  the  Lord. 

23  For  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the 
wife,  even  as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the 
church. 

24  Therefore  as  the  church  is  subject 
unto  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  be  to  their 
own  husbands  in  every  thing. 

25  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as 
Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  him- 
self for  it; 


2S  So  ought  men  to  love  their  wives  as 
their  own  bodies.  He  that  loveth  his  wife 
loveth  himself. 

31  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his 
father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  unto 
his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  one  flesh. 

33  Nevertheless,  let  every  one  of  you  in 
particular  so  love  his  wife  even  as  himself: 
and  the  wife  see  that  she  reverence  her 
husband. 


IF  every  man  were  as  pure  and  as  self-sacrificing  as  Jesus  is  said  to 
have  been  in  his  relations  to  the  Church,  respect,  honor  and  obe- 
dience from  the  wife  might  be  more  easily  rendered.  Let  every 
man  love  his  wife  (not  wives)  points  to  monogamic  marriage.  It  is 
quite  natural  for  women  to  love  and  to  honor  good  men,  and  to  re- 
turn a  full  measure  of  love  on  husbands  who  bestow  much  kindness 
and  attention  on  them ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  love  those  who  treat  us 
spitefully  in  any  relation,  except  as  mothers;  their  love  triumphs 
over  all  shortcomings  and  disappointments.  Occasionally  conjugal 
love  combines  that  of  the  mother.  Then  the  kindness  and  the  for- 
bearance of  a  wife  may  surpass  all  understanding. 


Phillippians  iv. 

2  I  beseech  Euodias,  and  beseech  Syn- 
tyche,  that  they  be  of  the  same  mind  in  the 
Lord. 

3  And  I  entreat  thee  also,  true  yokefel- 


low, help  those  women  v/hich  laboured  with 
me  in  the  Gospel,  with  Clement  also,  and 
with  other  my  fellow-laborers,  whose  names 
are  in  the  book  of  life. 


There  were  women  of  note  at  Phillippi  who  disagreed  and  caused 
divisions  in  the  Church.  The  Apostle  therefore  entreated  them  to 
make  mutual  concessions  for  the  welfare  of  the  Church.  The  yoke- 
fellow referred  to  was  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  husband  of 
one  of  the  women,  while  others  think  that  he  was  some  eminent 
minister.  But  such  mention  by  the  Apostle  must  have  been  highly 
appreciated  by  any  man  or  woman  for  whom  it  was  intended, 

E.  C.  S. 

160 


EPISTLES  TO  TIMOTHY. 


Chapter  I. 


J  Timothy  it. 

9  In  like  manner,  also,  that  women  adorn 
themselves  in  modest  apparel,  with  shame- 
facedness  and  sobriety:  not  with  braided 
hair,  or  gold,  or  pearls,  or  costly  array: 

10  But  (which  becometh  women  profess- 
ing godliness)  with  good  works. 

11  Let  the  woman  learn  in  silence  with 
all  subjection.     '■^ 


12  But  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach, 
nor  to  usurp  authority  over  the  man,  but 
to  be  in  silence. 

13  For  Adam  was  first  formed,  then  Eve. 

14  And  Adam  was  not  deceived,  but  the 
woman  being  deceived  was  in  the  trans- 
gression. 


THE  Apostle  Paul,  though  older  than  Timothy,  had  travelled 
much  with  him,  and  was  at  one  time  imprisoned  with  him  in 
Rome.  Paul  had  converted  Timothy  to  the  faith  and  watched 
over  him  as  a  father.  He  often  speaks  of  him  as  my  son,  and  was 
peculiarly  beloved  by  him.  When  Paul  was  driven  from  Ephesus 
he  wrote  this  epistle  to  Timothy  for  his  direction. 

It  is  perhaps  not  fair  to  judge  Paul  by  the  strict  letter  of  the  word. 
We  are  not  well  informed  of  the  habits  of  women  in  his  time  in  re- 
gard to  personal  adornment.  What  Paul  means  by  "modest  ap- 
parel" (supposing  the  translation  to  be  correct),  we  may  not  pre- 
cisely understand.  Paul  speaks  especially  of  "braided  hair."  In  his 
time  Paul  evidently  considered  as  of  account  the  extreme  susceptibil- 
ity of  his  sex  to  the  effect  of  the  garb  and  adornment  of  women. 

The  Apostles  all  appeared  to  be  much  exercised  by  the  orna- 
ments and  the  braided  hair  of  the  women.  While  they  insisted  that 
women  should  wear  long  hair,  they  objected  to  having  it  braided 
lest  the  beautiful  coils  should  be  too  attractive  to  men.  But  women 
had  other  reasons  for  braiding  their  hair  beside  attracting  men.  A 
compact  braid  was  much  more  comfortable  than  individual  hairs 
free  to  be  blown  about  with  every  breeze. 


161 


i62  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


It  appears  very  trifling  for  men,  commissioned  to  do  so  great  a 
v/ork  on  earth,  to  give  so  much  thought  to  the  toilets  of  women. 
Ordering  the  men  to  have  their  heads  shaved  and  hair  cropped, 
while  the  women  were  to  have  their  locks  hanging  around  their 
shoulders,  looks  as  if  they  feared  that  the  sexes  were  not  distinguisha- 
ble and  that  they  must  finish  Nature's  work.  Woman's  braids  and 
ornaments  had  a  deeper  significance  than  the  Apostles  seem  to  have 
understood.  Her  necessities  compelled  her  to  look  to  man  for  sup- 
port and  protection,  hence  her  efforts  to  make  herself  attractive  are 
not  prompted  by  feminine  vanity,  but  the  economic  conditions  of 
civilization.  E.  C.  S. 


The  injunction  that  women  should  adorn  themselves  through 
good  works  was  sensible.  The  Apostle  did  not  imply  that  this 
adornment  was  not  already  possessed  by  women.  Neither  did  he 
testify  that  the  generations  of  men,  of  Prophets  and  of  Apostles  had 
been  objects  of  the  good  works  and  all  the  ministrations  of  self- 
abnegation,  which  are  required  only  of  the  mothers  of  men.  Com- 
paratively few  women,  who  have  fulfilled  the  special  function  which 
man  assigns  to  them  as  their  chief  duty  in  life,  lack  the  adornment 
of  good  works.  In  addition  to  these  good  works  of  motherhood 
in  the  family,  woman  has  ministered  to  the  necessities  and  the  com- 
fort of  the  sick,  the  feeble  and  the  poor,  through  the  centuries. 

Could  Paul  have  looked  down  to  the  nineteenth  century  with 
clairvoyant  vision  and  beheld  the  good  works  of  a  Lucretia  Mott, 
a  Florence  Nightingale,  a  Dorothea  Dix  and  Clara  Barton,  not  to 
mention  a  host  of  faithful  mothers,  he  might,  perhaps,  have  been 
less  anxious  about  the  apparel  and  the  manners  of  his  converts. 
Could  he  have  foreseen  a  Margaret  Fuller,  a  Maria  Mitchell,  or  an 
Emma  Willard,  possibly  he  might  have  suspected  that  sex  does  not 
determine  the  capacity  of  the  individual.  Or,  could  he  have  had  a 
vision  of  the  public  school  system  of  this  Republic,  and  witnessed 
the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  teachers  are  women,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  he  might  have  hesitated  to  utter  so  tyrannical  an  edict: 
"But  I  permit  not  a  woman  to  teach." 


COMMENTS   ON   TIMOTHY.  163 

Had  the  Apostle  enjoined  upon  women  to  do  good  works  with- 
out envy  or  jealousy,  it  would  have  had  the  weight  and  the  wisdom 
of  a  Divine  command.  But  that,  from  the  earliest  record  of  human 
events,  woman  should  have  been  condemned  and  punished  for  trying 
to  get  knowledge,  and  forbidden  to  impart  what  she  has  learned,  is 
the  most  unaccountable  peculiarity  of  masculine  wisdom.  After 
cherishing  and  nursing  helpless  infancy,  the  most  necessary  quali- 
fication of  motherhood  is  that  of  teaching.  If  it  is  contrary  to  the 
perfect  operation  of  human  development  that  woman  should  teach, 
the  infinite  and  all  wise  directing  power  of  the  universe  has  blun- 
dered. It  cannot  be  admitted  that  Paul  was  inspired  by  infinite  wis- 
dom in  this  utterance.  This  was  evidently  the  unilluminated  utter- 
ance of  Paul,  the  man,  biassed  by  prejudice.  But,  it  may  be  claimed 
that  this  edict  referred  especially  to  teaching  in  religious  assemblies. 
It  is  strikingly  inconsistent  that  Paul,  who  had  proclaimed  the 
broadest  definition  of  human  souls,  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
bond  nor  free,  male  or  female,  but  ye  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus,"  as  the 
Christian  idea,  should  have  commanded  the  subjection  of  woman, 
and  silence  as  essential  to  her  proper  sphere  in  the  Church. 

It  is  not  a  decade  since  a  manifesto  was  issued  by  a  religious 
convention  bewailing  the  fact  that  woman  is  not  only  seeking  to 
control  her  property,  but  claiming  the  right  of  the  wife  to  control 
her  person!  This  seems  to  be  as  great  an  offence  to  ecclesiasticism 
in  this  hour  and  this  land  of  boasted  freedom,  as  it  was  to  Paul  in 
Judea  nineteen  centuries  ago.  But  the  "new  man,"  as  well  as  the 
"new  woman,"  is  here.  He  is  inspired  by  the  Divine  truth  that  wo- 
man is  to  contribute  to  the  redemption  of  the  race  by  free  and  en- 
lightened motherhood.  He  is  proving  his  fitness  to  be  her  compan- 
ion by  achieving  the  greatest  of  all  victories — victory  over  himself. 
The  new  humanity  is  to  be  born  of  this  higher  manhood  and  emanci- 
pated womanhood.  Then  it  will  be  possible  for  motherhood  to  "con- 
tinue in  sanctification." 

The  doctrine  of  woman  the  origin  of  sin,  and  her  subjection  in 
consequence,  planted  in  the  early  Christian  Church  by  Paul,  has  been 
a  poisonous  stream  in  Church  and  in  State.  It  has  debased  marriage 
and  made  both  canon  and  civil  law  a  monstrous  oppression  to  wo- 


i64  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

man.  M.  Renan  sums  up  concisely  a  mighty  truth  in  the  following 
words :  "The  writings  of  Paul  have  been  a  danger  and  a  hidden  rock 
— the  causes  of  the  principal  defects  of  Christian  theology."  His 
teachings  about  woman  are  no  longer  a  hidden  rock,  however, 
for,  in  the  light  of  science,  it  is  disclosed  to  all  truth  seeking  minds. 
How  much  satisfaction  it  would  have  been  to  the  mothers  adown 
the  centuries,  had  there  been  a  testimony  by  Mary  and  Elizabeth  re- 
cording their  experiences  of  motherhood.  Not  a  statement  by  them, 
nor  one  about  them,  except  what  man  wrote. 

Under  church  law,  woman's  property,  time  and  services  were  all 
at  the  husband's  disposal.  Woman  was  not  rescued  from  slavery  by 
the  Reformation.  Luther's  ninety-five  theses,  nailed  upon  the 
church  door  in  Wittenberg,  did  not  assert  woman's  natural  or  re- 
ligious equality  with  man.  It  was  a  maxim  of  his  that  "no  gown 
worse  becomes  a  woman,  than  that  she  should  be  wise."  A  curious 
old  black  letter  volume,  published  in  London  in  1632,  declares  that 
"the  reason  why  women  have  no  control  in  parliament,  why  they 
make  no  laws,  consent  to  none,  abrogate  none,  is  their  original  sin." 
The  trial  of  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was 
chiefly  for  the  sin  of  having  taught  men. 

To-day,  in  free  America,  a  wife  cannot  collect  damages  for  in- 
jury to  her  person  by  a  municipality.  Legally  her  husband  owns 
her  person;  and  he  alone  can  collect  damages  if  the  wife  is  injured 
by  any  defect  or  mishap  for  which  the  administration  of  the  mu- 
nicipality is  responsible.  This  was  tested  in  the  Court  of  Appeals 
in  New  York  in  1890.  The  judges  decided  that  "the  time  and  the 
services  of  the  wife  belong  to  the  husband,  and  if  she  has  received 
wages  from  him  it  was  a  gift."  Thus  the  spirit  and  the  intent  of  the 
church  law  to  make  the  wife  a  servant  of  the  husband,  subject  to  and 
controlled  by  him,  and  engrafted  in  common  law,  is  a  part  of  statute 
law  operative  in  these  United  States  to-day.  Blackstone  admits  the 
outgrowth  of  common  law  from  canon  law,  in  saying:  "Whoever 
wishes  to  gain  insight  into  that  great  institution,  common  law,  can  do 
so  most  efficiently  by  studying  canon  law  in  regard  to  married  wo- 
men." 

Jesus  is  not  recorded  as  having  uttered  any  similar  claim  that 


COMMENTS  ON   TIMOTHY.  165 

woman  should  be  subject  to  man,  or  that  in  teaching  she  would  be 
a  usurper.  The  dominion  of  woman  over  man  or  of  man  over 
woman  makes  no  part  of  the  sayings  of  the  Nazarene.  He  spoke 
to  the  individual  soul,  not  recognizing  sex  as  a  quality  of  spiritual 
life,  or  as  determining  the  sphere  of  action  of  either  man  or  woman. 

Stevens,  in  his  "Pauline  Theology,"  says:  "Paul  has  been  read 
as  if  he  had  written  in  the  nineteenth  century,  or,  more  commonly, 
as  if  he  had  written  in  the  fifth  or  seventeenth,  as  if  his  writings  had 
no  peculiarities  arising  from  his  own  time,  education  and  mental 
constitution."  Down  these  nineteen  centuries  in  a  portion  of  the 
Christian  Church  the  contempt  for  woman  which  Paul  projected  into 
Christianity  has  been  perpetuated.  The  Protestant  Evangelical 
Church  still  refuses  to  place  her  on  an  equality  with  man. 

Although  Paul  said:  "Neither  is  the  man  without  the  woman 
nor  the  woman  without  the  man  in  the  Lord,"  he  taught  also  that 
the  male  alone  is  in  the  image  of  God.  "For  a  man  ought  not  to 
have  his  head  veiled  forasmuch  as  he  is  the  image  of  God;  but  the 
woman  is  the  glory  of  man."  Thus  he  carried  the  spirit  of  the  Tal- 
mud, "aggravated  and  re-enforced,"  into  Christianity,  represented 
by  the  following  appointed  daily  prayer  for  pious  Jews:  "Blessed 
art  thou,  O  Lord,  that  thou  hast  not  made  me  a  Gentile,  an  idiot  nor  a 
woman."  Paul  exhibits  fairness  in  giving  reasons  for  his  peremptory 
mandate.  "For  Adam  was  first  formed,  then  Eve,"  he  says.  This  ap- 
pears to  be  a  weak  statement  for  the  higher  position  of  man.  If 
male  man  is  first  in  station  and  authority,  is  superior  because  of 
priority  of  formation,  what  is  his  relation  to  "whales  and  every  liv- 
ing creature  that  moveth  which  the  waters  bring  forth,  and  every 
winged  fowl  after  his  kind,"  which  were  formed  before  him? 

And  again,  "Adam  was  not  beguiled,  but,  the  woman  being  be- 
guiled, hath  fallen  into  transgression."  There  was  then  already  ex- 
isting the  beguiling  agency.  The  transgression  of  Eve  was  in  listen- 
ing to  this  existing  source  of  error,  which,  in  the  allegory,  is  styled 
"the  most  subtle  beast  of  the  field  which  the  Lord  God  hath  made." 
Woman  did  not  bring  this  subtle  agency  into  activity.  She  was  not 
therefore  the  author  of  sin,  as  has  been  charged.  She  was  tempted 
by  her  desire  for  the  knowledge  which  would  enable  her  to  dis- 


i66  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

tinguish  between  good  and  evil.  According  to  this  story,  woman 
led  the  race  out  of  the  ignorance  of  innocence  into  the  truth.  Cal- 
vin, the  commentator,  says:  "Adam  did  not  fall  into  error,  but  was 
avercome  by  the  allurements  of  his  wife."  It  is  singular  thai  the 
man,  who  was  "first  formed, "  and  thei^efore  superior,  and  to  whom 
only  God  has  committed  the  office  of  teaching,  not  only  was  not  sus- 
ceptible to  the  temptation  to  acquire  knowledge,  but  should  have 
been  the  weak  creature  who  was  "overcome  by  the  allurements  of  his 
wife." 

But  the  story  of  the  fall  and  all  cognate  myths  and  parables  are 
far  older  and  more  universal  than  the  ordinary  reader  of  the  Bible 
supposes  them  to  be.  The  Bible  itself  in  its  Hebrew  form  is  a 
comparatively  recent  compilation  and  adaptation  of  mysteries,  the 
chief  scenes  of  which  were  sculptured  on  temple  walls  and  written 
or  painted  on  papyri,  ages  before  the  time  of  Moses.  History  tells 
us,  moreover,  that  the  Book  of  Genesis,  as  it  now  stands,  is  the  work 
not  even  of  Moses,  but  of  Ezra  or  Esdras,  who  lived  at  the  time  of  the 
captivity,  between  five  hundred  and  six  hundred  years  before  our 
era,  and  that  he  recovered  it  and  other  writings  by  the  process  of  in- 
tuitional memory.  "My  heart,"  he  says,  "uttered  understanding,  and 
wisdom  grew  in  my  breast;  for  the  spirit  strengthened  my  memory." 

With  regard  to  the  particular  myth  of  the  fall,  the  walls  of  an- 
cient Thebes,  Elphantine,  Edfou  and  Karnak  bear  evidence  that 
long  before  Moses  taught,  and  certainly  ages  before  Esdras  wrote, 
its  acts  and  symbols  were  embodied  in  the  religious  ceremonials 
of  the  people,  of  whom,  according  to  Manetho,  Moses  was  himself 
a  priest.  And  the  whole  history  of  the  fall  of  man  is,  says  Sharpe,  in  a 
work  on  Egypt,  "of  Egyptian  origin.  The  temptation  of  the  wo- 
man by  the  serpent,  the  man  by  the  woman,  the  sacred  tree  of 
knowledge,  the  cherubs  guarding  with  flaming  swords  the  door  of 
the  garden,  the  warfare  declared  between  the  woman  and  the  ser- 
pent, may  all  be  seen  upon  the  Egyptian  sculptured  monuments." 

This  symbology  signifies  a  deeper  meaning  than  a  material  gar- 
den, a  material  apple,  a  tree  and  a  snake.  It  is  the  relation  of  the 
soul  or  feminine  part  of  man,  "his  living  mother,"  to  the  physical 
and  external  man  of  sense.     The  temptation  of  woman  brought 


COMMENTS   ON   TIMOTHY.  167 

the  soul  into  the  limitations  of  matter^  of  the  physical.  The  soul  de- 
rives its  life  from  spirit,  the  eternal  substance,  God.  Knowledge, 
through  intellect  alone,  is  of  the  limitation  of  flesh  and  sense.  Intui- 
tion, the  feminine  part  of  reason,  is  the  higher  light.  If  the  soul,  the 
feminine  part  of  man,  is  turned  toward  God,  humanity  is  saved  from 
the  dissipations  and  the  perversions  of  sensuality.  Humanity  is  not 
alone  dual  in  the  two  forms,  male  and  female,  but  every  soul  is  dual. 
The  more  perfect  the  balance  in  the  individual  of  masculine  and 
feminine,  the  more  perfect  the  man  or  the  woman.  The  masculine 
represents  force,  the  feminine  love.  "Force  without  love  can  but 
work  evil  until  it  is  spent." 

Paul  evidently  was  not  learned  in  Egyptian  lore.  He  did  not 
recognize  the  esoteric  meaning  of  the  parable  of  the  fall.  To  him  it 
was  a  literal  fact,  apparently,  and  Eve  was  to  be  to  all  womankind 
the  transmitter  of  a  "curse"  in  maternity.  We  know  that  down  to 
the  very  recent  date  of  the  introduction  of  anesthetics  the  idea  pre- 
vailed that  travail  pains  are  the  result  of,  and  punishment  for,  the 
transgression  of  Mother  Eve.  It  was  claimed  that  it  was  wrong 
to  attempt  to  remove  "the  curse"  from  woman,  by  mitigating  her 
sufifering  in  that  hour  of  peril  and  of  agony. 

Whatever  Paul  may  mean,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  women  of  our 
aboriginal  tribes,  whose  living  was  natural  and  healthful,  who  were 
not  enervated  by  civilized  customs,  were  not  subject  to  the  suffer- 
ings of  civilized  women.  And  it  has  been  proven  by  the  civilized 
woman  that  a  strict  observance  of  hygienic  conditions  of  dress,  of 
diet,  and  the  mode  of  life,  reduces  the  pangs  of  parturition.  Painless 
child-bearing  is  a  physiological  problem;  and  "the  curse"  has  never 
borne  upon  the  woman  whose  life  had  been  in  strict  accord  with  the 
laws  of  life.  Science  has  come  to  the  rescue  of  humanity,  in  the 
recognition  of  the  truth,  that  the  advancement  as  well  as  the  conser- 
vation of  the  race  is  through  the  female.  The  great  Apostle  left  no 
evidence  that  he  apprehended  this  fact.  His  audacity  was  sublime; 
but  it  was  the  audacity  of  ignorance. 

No  more  stupendous  demonstration  of  the  power  of  thought 
can  be  imagined,  than  is  illustrated  in  the  customs  of  the  Church  for 
centuries,  when  in  the  general  canons  were  found  that  "No  woman 


i68  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

may  approach  the  altar/'  "A  woman  may  not  baptize  without  ex- 
treme necessity/'  "Woman  may  not  receive  the  eucharist  under  a 
black  veil."  Under  canon  8i  she  was  forbidden  to  write  in  her  own 
name  to  lay  Christians,  but  only  in  the  name  of  her  husband;  and 
women  were  not  to  receive  letters  of  friendship  from  any  one  ad- 
dressed to  themselves.  Canon  law,  framed  by  the  priesthood,  com- 
piled as  early  as  the  ninth  century,  has  come  down  in  effect  to  the 
nineteenth,  making  woman  subordinate  in  civil  law.  Under  canon 
law,  wives  were  deprived  of  the  control  of  both  person  and  property. 
Canon  law  created  marriage  a  sacrament  "to  be  performed  at  the 
church  door,"  in  order  to  make  it  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  Church. 
Marriage,  however,  was  reckoned  too  sinful  "to  be  allowed  for 
many  years  to  take  place  within  the  sacred  building  consecrated  to 
God,  and  deemed  too  holy  to  permit  the  entrance  of  a  woman  within 
its  sacred  walls  at  certain  periods  of  her  life/'  L.  B.  C. 


Chapter  II. 


J  Timothy  Hi. 

2  A  bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the 
husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of 
good  behavior,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to 
teach ; 

3  Not  given  to  wine,  no  striker,  not 
greedy  of  filthy  lucre;  but  patient,  not  a 
brawler,  not  covetous; 

4  One  that  ruleth  well  in  his  own  house, 
having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all 
gravity: 

5  (For  if  a  man  know  not  how  to  rule  his 


own  house,  how  shall  he  take  care  of  the 
church  of  God?) 

8  Likewise  must  the  deacons  be  grave, 
not  double-tongued,  not  given  to  much 
wine,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre. 

11  Even  so  must  their  wives  be  grave, 
not  slanderers,  sober,  faithful  in  all  things. 

12  Let  the  deacons  be  the  husbands  of 
one  wife,  ruling  their  children  and  their 
own  houses  well. 


IN  this  chapter  the  advice  of  the  Apostle  in  regard  to  the  overseer 
or  bishop  is  unexceptionable.  The  first  injunction  that  relates 
to  v^oman  is,  that  the  bishop  must  be  the  husband  of  one  wife. 
Under  the  present  ideas  of  Christendom,  the  inference  naturally  is 
that  the  bishop  was  enjoined  to  be  the  husband  of  but  one  wife.  If, 
as  appears  probable,  this  was  an  injunction  in  favor  of  monogamy, 
it  was  a  true  and  progressive  idea  established  with  the  foundation  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

Deacons  also  are  instructed  to  be  the  husbands  of  one  wife. 
"Women  in  like  manner  must  be  grave,  not  slanderers,  temperate, 
faithful  in  all  things."  It  is  not  clear  whether  this  is  spoken  for  the 
direction  of  women  in  general  in  the  Church,  or  for  the  wives  of 
deacons.  The  advice,  however,  is  equally  good  for  either  class. 
The  word  "sober"  in  the  old  version  is  rendered  "temperate"  in  the 
new  one.  Whether  women  in  those  days  were  liable  to  take  too 
much  wine  does  not  appear.  But  nowhere  in  the  Old  or  the  New 
Testaments  is  there  an  account  of  drunkenness  by  women. 

The  directions  for  the  conduct  of  the  bishop  are  explicit.  He  is 
to  be  "gentle,  not  contentious,"  which  sets  aside  much  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  masculine  nature.     In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  the 

169 


170 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


qualification  "apt  to  teach,"  before  forbidden,  the  entire  list  of  the 
necessary  qualities  of  a  bishop  is  that  of  womanly  characteristics. 
Temperate,  sober-minded  (i.  e.,  not  given  to  trifling  speech),  orderly, 
given  to  hospitality,  no  brawler,  no  striker  (this  supposedly  refers  to 
pugilistic  tendencies),  but  gentle,  not  contentious.  Every  qualifi- 
cation is  essentially  womanly. 


n  But  the  younger  widows  refuse;  for 
when  they  have  begun  to  wax  wanton 
against  Christ,  they  will  marry; 

12  Having  damnation,  because  they  have 
cast  off  their  first  faith. 

13  And  withal  they  learn  to  be  idle,  wan- 
dering about  from  house  to  house;  and  not 
only  idle,  but  tattlers  also,  and  busybodie?, 
speaking  things  which  they  ought  not. 

14  1  will  therefore  that  the  younger  wo- 
men marry,  bear  children,  guide  the  house, 
give  none  occasion  to  the  adversary  to 
speak  reproachfully. 

15  For  some  are  already  turned  aside 
after  Satan. 

16  If  any  man  or  woman  that   believeth- 
have  widows,  let  them  relieve  them,  and  let 
not   the   church   be   charged;    that   it   may 
relieve  them  that  are  widows  indeed. 


I  Timothy  v. 

3  Honour  widows  that  are  widows  indeed. 

4  But  if  any  widow  have  children  or 
nephews,  let  them  learn  first  to  shew  piety 
at  home,  and  to  requite  their  parents:  for 
that  is  good  and  acceptable  before  God. 

5  Now  she  that  is  a  widow  indeed,  and 
desolate,  trusteth  in  God, 

6  But  she  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead 
while  she  liveth. 

8  But  if  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and 
specially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  he 
hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
Infidel. 

9  Let  not  a  widow  be  taken  into  the 
number  under  threescore  years,  having 
been  the  wife  of  one  man. 

10  Well  reported  of  for  her  good  works; 
if  she  have  brought  up  children,  if  she  have 
lodged  strangers,  if  she  have  washed  the 
saints'  feet,  if  she  have  relieved  the  af- 
flicted, if  she  have  diligently  followed  every 
good  work. 


No  one  can  be  desolate  who  has  a  purpose  and  a  sphere  of  ac- 
tion, with  ability  to  work.  Paul's  widow,  who  was  a  widow  indeed, 
"continueth  in  supplication  and  prayers  night  and  day."  What  an 
existence!  Desolate  indeed.  Exercising  but  one  faculty  of  the 
soul — that  of  supplication!  Women  of  this  period  cannot  be  too 
thankful,  that  the  numerous  opportunities  for  educational  and  philan- 
thropic work  are  open  to  them  in  addition  to  the  opportunities  to 
win  subsistence  in  the  various  avocations  of  life. 

The  widow  who  was  to  be  enrolled,  to  be  provided  for  by  the 
Church,  must  be  three  score  years  old,  having  been  the  wife  of  one 
man.  Whether  this  is  a  repudiation  of  second  marriages,  or  refers 
to  polyandry,  is  not  apparent.  This  obligation  of  the  early  Church 
to  provide  for  women  who  had  fulfilled  the  duties  of  motherhood, 
ministered  to  the  affiicted,  washed  the  saints'  feet,  and  diligently 


COMMENTS  ON   TIMOTHY.  171 

followed  every  good  work,  is  a  recognition  of  a  right  principle,  and 
which  should  be  made  a  part  of  social  organization. 

But  he  directs  that  younger  women  be  refused.  Paul  thought 
that  women  could  not  be  loyal  followers  of  Christ  and  "desire  to 
marry."  Therefore  he  desires  them  all  to  marry,  to  bear  children 
and  to  rule  the  family.  Another  inconsistency  of  Paul.  Having 
stated  as  expressly  the  teaching  of  the  spirit  that  the  doctrine  forbid- 
ding to  marry  was  of  devils,  he  here  again  claims  that  when  the 
younger  widows  desire  to  marry  they  have  waxed  wanton  against 
Christ.  There  is  even  by  Paul  one  place  in  which  woman  is  to  be 
the  head.  If  she  may  not  teach,  she  may  provide  for  the  physical 
comfort  of  her  husband  and  family. 

The  Apostle  accuses  women  of  learning  to  be  idle,  going  about 
from  house  to  house,  of  being  tattlers  and  busybodies — these  young 
widows,  or  unmarried  women.  What  a  spectacle  the  thousands  of 
bread-winning  young  and  unmarried  women  of  to-day,  would  be  to 
Paul  if  he  could  come  here !  And  these  young  women  have  no  time 
to  go  from  house  to  house,  or  even  to  fulfill  social  obligations. 
And  the  students  in  our  colleges  and  universities,  Paul  would 
not  find  them  tattlers  or  busybodies.  What  could  the  unmarried 
women  of  Paul's  time  do?  They  had  no  absorbing  mental  pursuit 
or  physical  occupation.  Perhaps  they  could  not  read;  and  there 
was  little  for  them  to  study.  Lacking  mental  furnishing  to  noble 
ends,  they  must  of  necessity  deal  with  trivial  matters.  What  could 
a  woman  do  who  had  no  home  to  care  for,  no  business  to  attend  to, 
perhaps  nothing  to  read  (if  she  could  read),  no  social  organizations 
in  which  she  had  a  place  and  part  except  the  religious  assemblies  in 
which  she  w^as  to  be  "in  quietness,"  "in  silence"? 

They  were  not  worthy  of  condemnation  if  they  were  going  from 
house  to  house  and  tattling.  The  unmarried  woman  will  not  lack 
opportunity  for  the  dignity  of  self-support  and  the  ministrations  of 
philanthropy  in  the  new  dispensation.  Womanhood  and  its  high 
possibilities  of  mind  and  of  heart  are  worthy  attainments,  even 
though  not  crowned  with  self-elected  motherhood.  Whether  mar- 
ried or  unmarried,  the  highest  duty  of  every  living  soul,  woman  or 
man,  is  to  seek  truth  and  righteousness;  and  the  liberty  which  is  of 


^ 


172 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


the  spirit  of  truth  does  not  admit  of  the  bondage  of  husband  and  wife, 
the  one  to  the  other.  Freedom  to  seek  soul  development  is  para- 
mount to  all  other  demands. 


2  Timothy  i, 

2  To  Timothy,  my  dearly  beloved  son: 
grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  from  God  the 
Father  and  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

5  When  I   call  to  remembrance  the  un- 


feigned faith  that  is  in  thee,  which  dwelt 
first  in  thy  grand-mother  Lois,  and  thy 
mother  Eunice;  and  I  am  persuaded  that 
in  thee  also. 


Timothy,  whom  Paul  calls  his  true  child  in  faith,  and  whom  he 
placed  as  overseer,  or  bishop  of  the  first  church  at  Ephesus,  as  all 
commentators  agree,  was  the  child  of  mixed  parentage,  his  father 
being  a  Greek  and  his  mother  a  Jewess.  It  is  supposed  that  his 
father  died  in  Timothy's  childhood,  as  no  mention  is  made  of  him. 
Timothy,  then,  was  educated  religiously  by  the  teaching  and  the 
example  of  his  mother  and  his  grandmother.  Paul  expresses  with 
fervent  emotion  his  remembrance  of  his  "beloved  child,"  and  of  the 
unfeigned  faith  which  is  in  him,  and,  "which  dwelt  first  in  thy  grand- 
rDother  Lois  and  thy  mother  Eunice." 

After  having  instructed  Timothy  to  exercise  all  the  gentle  virtues 
which  are  feminine  and  womanly,  the  Apostle  in  this  acknowledg- 
ment that  he  was  the  child  of  a  devout  mother  and  grandmother, 
discloses  a  fact  which  places  in  no  favorable  light  his  strenuous 
opposition  to  woman's  equality  in  the  Church.  This  mother  and 
grandmother  under  whose  teaching  Timothy  had  become  qualified 
to  receive  the  important  office  of  bishop,  and  whose  faithfulness  so 
endeared  him  to  the  Apostle,  were  required  to  keep  silence  in  the 
Church  equally  with  all  other  women  whose  evidence  of  faith  were 
not  so  conclusive.  There  was  no  distinction.  The  ban  was  placed 
upon  woman  solely  on  the  ground  of  sex. 

The  Church  has  only  in  this  nineteenth  century  partially  amend- 
ed this  record,  by  establishing  the  order  of  deaconesses  for  women 
who  devote  themselves  to  good  works  and  to  religious  teaching. 
While  in  the  liberal  denominations  the  pulpit  is  accessible  to  wo- 
man, it  is  only  in  very  recent  years  that  in  any  evangelistic  de- 
nomination it  has  been  permissible  for  woman  to  "teach."  The 
priesthood  are  as  unwilling  to-day  as  was  Paul  in  the  first  century. 


COMMENTS   ON   TIMOTHY.  173 

that  women  shall  be  placed  on  an  equality  in  offices  of  distinction. 
Perhaps  this  disposition  comes  of  a  dim,  not  fully  evolved  con- 
sciousness that,  "when  the  present  evolution  of  woman  is  com- 
plete, a  new  world  will  result;  for  woman  is  destined  to  rule  the 
world.  She  is  the  centre  and  the  fountain  of  its  life,"  which  the  new 
man  has  recently  announced  from  his  pulpit. 

There  is  no  prerogative  more  tenaciously  held  by  the  common 
man  than  that  of  rulership.  There  is  no  greater  opposition  to 
woman's  equality  in  the  State  than  there  is  in  the  Church,  and  this 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Church  and  the  pulpit  are  largely 
sustained  by  women.  The  Church  is  spiritually  and  actually  a  wo- 
manly institution,  and  this  is  recognized  by  the  unvarying  ex- 
pression, "Mother  Church."  Yet  man  monopolizes  all  offices  of  dis- 
tinction and  of  leadership,  and  receives  the  salaries  for  material  sup- 
port. As  the  inevitable  result,  spiritual  life  has  become  so  languid 
as  to  be  ineffectual,  and  an  effort  is  being  persistently  pushed  by  a 
portion  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  a  portion,  too,  which  most  strenu- 
ously keeps  its  women  silent,  to  fortify  the  Church  by  the  power  of 
civil  government. 

There  is  no  suggestion  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  recorded,  of 
compelling  individuals,  authorities,  or  powers,  to  acknowledge  God. 
The  religion  of  Jesus  is  a  voluntary  acceptance  of  truth.  "God  is  a 
spirit,  and  they  who  worship  him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  There  can  be  no  compulsory  life  of  the  spirit,  quickened 
by  the  source  of  life,  light  and  love.  The  masculine  idea  of  com- 
pelling a  formal  acknowledgment  of  God  by  the  State  is  entirely  un- 
christian. 

Until  the  feminine  is  recognized  in  the  Divine  Being,  and  justice 
is  established  in  the  Church  by  the  complete  equality  of  woman  with 
man,  the  Church  cannot  be  thoroughly  Christian.  "Honor  thy  fath- 
er and  thy  mother"  is  the  commandment.  The  human  race  cannot 
be  brought  to  its  highest  state  until  motherhood  is  equally  honored 
with  fatherhood  in  human  institutions.  L.  B.  C. 


EPISTLES  OF   PETER   AND  JOHN. 


1  Peter  Hi. 

I  Likewise,  ye  wives,  be  in  subjection  to 
your  own  husbands;  that,  if  any  obey  not 
the  word,  they  also  may  without  the  word 
be  won  by  the  conversation  of  the  wives; 

3  Whose  adorning,  let  it  not  be  that  out- 
ward adorning  of  plaiting  the  hair,  and  of 


wearing  of  gold,   or  of  putting  on  of  ap- 
parel ; 

7  Likewise,  ye  husbands,  dwell  with  them 
according  to  knowledge,  giving  honour  un* 
to  the  wife,  as  unto  the  weaker  vessel. 


WOMAN'S  influence  is  most  clearly  set  forth  by  all  the  Apos- 
tles in  meek  submission  to  their  husbands  and  to  all  the 
Church  ordinances  and  discipline.  A  reverent  silence,  a 
respectful  observance  of  rules  and  authorities  was  their  power.  They 
could  not  aid  in  spreading  the  gospel  and  in  converting  their  hus- 
bands to  the  true  faith  by  teaching,  by  personal  attraction,  by  braided 
hair  or  ornaments.  The  normal  beauty  of  a  sanctified  heart  would 
be  manifested  by  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  valuable  in  the  sight  of 
God  as  well  as  their  husbands,  and  do  far  more  to  fix  their  affec- 
tions and  to  secure  their  esteem  than  the  studied  decoration  of 
fashionable  apparel.  Woman's  love  of  satins,  of  velvets,  of  laces, 
and  of  jewels,  has  its  corresponding  expression  in  man's  love  of 
wealth,  of  position,  and  his  ambition  for  personal  and  family  aggran- 
dizement. 

There  is  much  talk  of  the  poor  and  the  needy,  especially  during 
political  campaigns.  In  the  autumn  of  1896,  when  the  workingman's 
interests  formed  the  warp  and  woof  of  every  speech,  three  thousand 
children  stood  in  the  streets  of  New  York  City,  for  whom  there  was 
no  room  in  the  schoolhouses  and  no  play-grounds;  and  yet  thou- 
sands of  dollars  were  spent  in  buying  votes.  Large,  well-ventilated 
homes  for  those  who  do  the  work  of  the  world,  plenty  of  school- 
houses  and  play-grounds  for  the  children  of  the  poor,  would  be 
much  more  beneficial  to  the  race  than  expensive  monuments  to 

174 


COMMENTS   ON  PETER   AND   JOHN. 


175 


dead  men,  and  large  appropriations  from  the  public  treasury  for 
holidays  and  convivial  occasions  to  honor  men  in  high  places. 

The  Apostles  having  given  such  specific  directions  as  to  the 
toilets  of  women,  their  hair,  ornaments,  manners  and  position,  in 
the  Church,  the  State  and  the  home,  one  is  curious  to  know  what 
kind  of  honor  is  intended  for  this  complete  subordination.  Man  is 
her  head,  her  teacher,  her  guardian  and  her  Saviour.  What  Christ 
is  to  him,  that  is  he  to  the  weaker  vessel.  It  is  fair  to  infer  that 
what  he  has  done  in  the  past  he  will  continue  to  do  in  the  future. 
Unless  she  rebels  outright,  he  will  make  her  a  slave,  a  subject,  the 
mere  reflection  of  another  human  will.  E.  C.  S. 


^  John  i. 
I  The  elder  unto  the  elect  lady  and  her 

children, 

5  And  now  I  beseech  thee,  lady,  not  as 
though  I  wrote  a  new  commandment  unto 
thee,  but  that  which  we  had  from  the  be- 
ginning, that  we  love  one  another. 


6  And  this  is  love,  that  we  walk  after  his 
commandments. 

12  Having  many  things  to  write  unto  you, 
I  would  not  write  with  paper  and  ink;  but 
I  trust  to  come  unto  you,  and  speak  faca 
to  face,  that  our  joy  may  be  full. 


Some  critics  conjecture  that  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  is  meant 
by  the  "elect  lady,"  and  the  one  at  Ephesus  by  her  elect  sister. 
Others  suppose  that  an  eminent  and  honorable  Christian  woman  was 
intended  by  the  "elect  lady,"  and  that  some  other  Christian  woman, 
well  known  in  the  Church,  was  intended  by  her  elect  sister.  The 
aged  Apostle  wrote  this  short  letter  to  this  lady,  who  was  a  person 
of  rank,  hence  he  did  not  scruple  to  give  to  her  the  title  of  honor. 
He  assured  her  children  of  his  deep  interest  in  their  welfare.  The 
word  lady  was  always  used  in  addressing,  or  speaking  of  one  who 
was  an  acknowledged  superior.  In  their  travels  about  the  country 
the  Apostles  especially  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  families  of  rank. 
Though  democratic  in  their  principles,  they  were  susceptible  to  the 
attractions  of  wealth  and  of  culture.  E.  C.  S. 


REVELATION. 


Chapter  I. 


Revelation'  i. 

The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
God  gave  unto  him,  to  shew  unto  his  ser- 
vants things  which  must  shortly  come  to 
pass;  and  he  sent  and  signified  it  by  his 
angel  unto  his  servant  John: 

3  Who  bare  record  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
of  all  things  that  he  saw. 

3  Blessed  is  he   that   readeth,   and   they 


that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and 
keep  those  things  which  arc  written  there- 
in: for  the  time  is  at  hand. 

4  John  to  the  seven  churches  which  are 
in  Asia:  Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace, 
from  him  which  is,  and  which  was,  and 
which  is  to  come;  and  from  the  sevea 
Spirits  which  arc  before  bis  throne. 


JOHN  MORLEY  once  said  to  the  priests:  "We  shall  not  attack 
you,  we  shall  explain  you."  The  Book  of  Revelation,  prop- 
erly Re-Veilings,  cannot  even  be  approximately  explained  with- 
out some  knowledge  of  astrology.  It  is  a  purely  esoteric  work, 
largely  referring  to  woman,  her  intuition,  her  spiritual  powers,  and 
all  she  represents.  Even  the  name  of  its  putative  author,  John,  is 
identical  in  meaning  with  "dove,"  the  emblem  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  female  principle  of  the  Divinity. 

This  book  came  down  from  old  Egyptian  "mystery"  times,  and 
was  one  of  the  profoundly  "sacred"  and  profoundly  "secret"  books 
of  the  great  temple  of  Luxor,  the  words  "sacred"  and  "secret"  pos- 
sessing the  same  meaning  during  the  mysteries.  All  knowledge  was 
anciently  concealed  in  the  mysteries ;  letters,  numbers,  astrology  (un- 
til the  sixteenth  century  identical  with  astronomy),  alchemy,  the 
parent  of  chemistry,  these,  and  all  other  sciences  were  hidden  from 
the  common  people.  Even  to  all  initiates  the  most  important  part 
of  the  mysteries  was  not  revealed. 

It  is  not  then  strange  that  such  a  profoundly  mystic  book  as  Re- 
Veilings  should  be  so  little  understood  by  the  Christian  Church  as 

176 


COMMENTS  ON  REVELATION.  177 

to  have  been  many  times  rejected  from  the  sacred  canon.  It  did 
not  appear  in  the  Syriac  Testament  as  late  as  1562.  Neither  did 
Luther,  the  great  reformer  of  the  sixteenth  century,  nor  his  co- 
worker, Erasmus,  respect  it,  Luther  declaring  that  for  his  part  he 
would  as  soon  it  had  not  been  written;  Calvin,  also,  had  small  re- 
gard for  it.  The  first  collection  of  the  New  Testament  canon,  decided 
upon  by  the  Council  of  Laodicea  (A.  D.  364),  omitted  the  entire  book 
from  its  list  of  sacred  works;  Jerome  said  that  some  Greek  churches 
would  not  receive  it.  The  celebrated  Vatican  codex  in  the  papal 
library,  the  oldest  uncial  or  Biblical  manuscript  in  existence,  does 
not  contain  Revelation.  The  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was 
fixed  as  it  now  is  by  Pope  Innocent  L,  A.  D.  405,  with  the  Book  of 
Revelation  still  in  dispute. 

Its  mystic  character  has  been  vaguely  surmised  by  the  later 
Church,  which,  while  claiming  to  be  the  exponent  of  spiritual  things, 
has  yet  taught  the  grossest  materialism,  and  from  no  part  of  the 
Bible  more  fully  than  from  Revelation.  It  asserts  a  literal  coming 
of  Christ  in  the  literal  clouds  of  heaven,  riding  a  literal  horse,  while 
Gabriel  (angel  of  the  moon),  with  a  literal  trumpet  sounds  the  blast 
of  earth's  destruction.  A  literal  devil  is  to  be  bound  for  a  thousand 
years,  during  which  time  the  saints  are  to  dwell  on  earth,  "every 
man  to  have  a  farm,"  as  I  once  heard  a  devout  Methodist  declare. 
"But  there  will  not  be  land  enough  for  that,"  objected  a  brother. 
"O,  well,  the  earth  is  now  two-thirds  water,  and  that  will  be  dried 
up,"  was  the  reply.  To  such  straits  have  Christians  been  driven 
in  their  efTorts  to  comprehend  this  book. 

But  during  the  centuries  a  few  students  have  not  failed  to  appre- 
hend its  character;  the  Abbe  Constant  (Eliphas  Levi),  declaring 
it  to  be  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  occult  science.  While  for  even 
a  partial  comprehension  of  Re-Veilings,  some  knowledge  of  astrol- 
ogy is  required,  it  is  no  less  true  that  the  whole  Bible  from  Genesis 
to  Revelation  demands  a  knowledge  of  astrolog)^  of  letters,  and  of 
numbers,  with  their  interchangeable  values  as  they  were  understood 
by  those  who  wrote  it,  "a  book  written  by  initiates  for  initiates." 
Sir  William  Drummond  proved  that  all  names  of  places  in  the  holy 
land  of  the  Hebrews  were  astronomical. 


178  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

Not  only  were  Hebrew  feasts  and  seasons  based  upon  that 
science,  but  many  Christian  ones,  as  Easter  and  Christmas  are  due 
to  the  same  cause.  The  festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  takes  place 
at  the  time  of  the  sun's  lowest  southern  declination,  December  22. 
In  like  manner  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  occurs  at  mid- 
summer day,  when  the  sun  reaches  its  highest  northern  declination. 
All  those  church  periods  are  purely  astronomical  or  astrological  in 
character.  The  "Alpha"  and  "Omega"  of  Revelation  contain  pro- 
found evolutionary  truths,  significative  of  spirit  and  of  matter,  or 
God  unmanifested  and  manifested. 

The  famous  seven  churches  of  Asia,  to  whom  this  book  was 
largely  addressed,  were  all  astrological  and  based  upon  the  seven 
planets  of  the  ancients.  Of  these  seven  churches  that  of  Ephesus 
stood  first.  On  the  shores  of  yEgean  Sea,  it  was  famous  for  its 
magnificent  temple  to  the  moon-goddess  Artemis,  or  Diana.  This 
temple  was  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  ancient  world,  nations 
vieing  with  each  other  in  their  gifts  to  add  to  its  splendor.  The 
moon  being  the  emblem  or  "angel"  of  Ephesus,  the  cry  of  the  multi- 
tude when  Paul  spake  there,  "Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians!"  was 
an  astrological  recognition  of  the  power  of  the  moon  over  human 
affairs.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  none  of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia 
received  the  writings  of  Paul.  In  the  astrology  of  Chaldea,  as  in 
that  of  Asia  Minor,  the  moon  was  first  among  the  planets.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  numbers  seven  and  twelve,  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  Re-Veilings,  are  of  great  occult  significance  in  rela- 
tion to  the  earth. 

The  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,  to  whom  the  second  letter 
was  addressed,  was  the  sun,  "the  only  sun"  dying  and  rising  each 
day;  that  of  Pergamos,  the  beneficent  Jupiter,  who  became  the  su- 
preme god  of  the  Greek  world.  The  angel  of  Thyatira,  the  lovely 
and  loving  Venus,  by  some  deemed  the  most  occult  of  the  planets, 
sustained  her  old-time  character  for  lasciviousness  in  her  connection 
with  that  church.  The  fiery,  warlike  Mars,  angel  of  the  church  of 
Sardis,  called  "the  Great  King,"  and  Saturn,  the  angel  of  the  church 
of  Philadelphia,  are  astrologically  known  as  malefic  planets.  Saturrt 
identified  with  Satan,  matter  and  time,  is  for  occult  reasons  looked 


COMMENTS  ON  REVELATION. 


179 


upon  as  the  great  malefic.  The  angel  of  the  church  of  Laodicea, 
Mercury  or  Hermes,  the  ambiguous  planet,  is,  next  to  Venus,  the 
•most  occult  of  all  the  planets;  it  is,  masculine  or  feminine,  the  patron 
of  learning  or  of  thieves,  as  it  is  aspected.  Most  profound  secrets 
.connected  with  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  race  during  the  middle 
portion  of  the  fifth  round  are  hidden  in  the  letter  to  the  ang«l  of  the 
church  of  Laodicea.  M.  J.  G. 


This  book  is  styled  the  Apocalypse  or  Revelation,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  written  by  John,  called  the  Divine,  on  the  Isiand 
of  Patmos,  in  the  ^gean  Sea,  whither  he  was  banished.  Professor 
Goldwin  Smith,  in  a  recent  work  entitled  "Guesses  at  the  Riddle  of 
Existence,"  thinks  that  we  have  but  little  reliable  information  as  to 
the  writers  of  either  the  Old  or  the  New  Testaments.  In  this  case 
the  style  is  so  different  from  that  of  John,  that  the  same  Apostle 
could  not  have  written  both  books.  Whoever  wrote  The  Revelation 
was  evidently  the  victim  of  a  terrible  and  extravagant  imagination 
and  of  visions  which  make  the  blood  curdle. 


Revelation    ii. 

18  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in 
Thyatira  write: 

19  I  know  thy  works,  and  charity,  and 
service,  and  faith,  and  thy  patience. 

20  Notwithstanding  I  have  a  few  things 
against  thee,  because  thou  sufferest  that 
woman  Jezebel,  which  calleth  herself  a 
prophet,  to  teach  and  to  seduce  my  ser- 
vants. 


21  And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent;  and 

she  repented  not. 

22  Behold,  I  will  cast  her  into  great  trib- 
ulation. 

23  And  I  will  kill  her  children  and  all  the 
churches  shall  know  that  I  am  he  which 
searcheth  the  hearts;  and  I  will  give  unto 
every  one  of  you  according  to  your  works. 


The  town  of  Thyatira  lay  to  the  southeast  of  Pergamos.  The 
epistle  to  the  church  was  sent  by  John,  with  some  commendations; 
but  it  was  said  that  there  was  a  worm  at  the  root  of  its  prosperity, 
which  would  destroy  the  whole  unless  it  were  removed.  It  is  not 
agreed  whether  the  expression  Jezebel,  is  to  be  understood  literally 
or  figuratively.  From  the  reading  of  some  manuscripts  it  has  been 
thought,  that  the  wife  of  the  presiding  minister  was  intended,  that 
she  had  obtained  great  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  and 


i8o  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

made  a  bad  use  of  it;  that  she  pretended  to  have  prophetic  gifts,  and 
under  that  sanction  propagated  abominable  principles. 

The  figurative  meaning,  however,  seems  more  suited  to  the  style 
and  the  manner  of  this  book;  and  in  this  sense  it  denotes  a  com- 
pany of  persons,  of  the  spirit  and  character  of  Jezebel,  within  the 
church  under  one  principal  deceiver.  Jezebel,  a  Zidonian  and  a  zeal- 
ous idolater,  being  married  to  the  King  of  IsraeH^ATiaFTcontrary 
to  the  Divine  law,  us.ed.^ herlnfluence Jo_draw  the  Israelites  from 
the  worship  of  Jehovah  into  idolatry.  Satan  and  woman  are  the 
chiej  characters  in  alTlHeTrighttul  yisiongT  and  the  sacred^pefTod  of 
maternity  is  made  to  illustrate  some  of  the  most  terrible  upheavals 
in  national  life,  as  between  the  old  dragon  and  the  mother  of  the 
race.  Whatever  this  book  was  intended  to  illustrate,  its  pictures 
are  painfully  vivid.  E.  C.  S. 


Chapter  II. 


Revelation    xii. 

And  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  in 
heaven ;  a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and 
the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon  her 
head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars : 

2  And  she  being  with  child  travailed  in 
birth. 

3  And  there  appeared  another  wonder  in 
heaven;  and  behold  a  great  red  dragon, 
having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and 
seven  crowns  upon  his  heads. 

4  And  his  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the 
stars  of  heaven,  and  the  dragon  stood  be- 


fore the  woman  to  devour  her  child  as  soon 
as  it  was  born. 

5  And  she  brought  forth  a  man  child, 
that  was  caught  up  unto  God. 

6  And  the  woman  fled  into  the  wilder- 
ness, where  she  hath  a  place  prepared  of 
God. 

13  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was 
cast  unto  the  earth,  he  was  wroth  with  the 
woman,  and  went  to  make  war  with  the 
remnant  of  her  seed. 


THE  constellation  Draco^,  the  Great  Serpent,  was  at  one  time 
ruler  of  the  night,  being  formerly  at  the  very  centre  of  the  heav- 
ens and  so  large  that  it  was  called  the  Great  Dragon.  Its 
body  spread  over  seven  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  which  were  called  its 
seven  heads.  So  great  a  space  did  it  occupy,  that,  in  mystic  lan- 
guage, it  "drew  a  third  part  of  the  stars  from  heaven  and  cast  them 
to  the  earth."  Thuban,  in  its  tail,  was  formerly  the  pole-star,  or 
"judge  of  the  earth."  It  approached  much  nearer  the  true  pole 
than  Cynosura,  the  present  pole-star,  which  is  one  and  a  half  de- 
grees distant  and  will  never  approach  nearer  than  twelve  minutes, 
while  Thuban  was  only  ten  minutes  distant. 

At  an  early  day  serpents  were  much  respected;  they  were 
thought  to  have  more  "pneuma"  or  spirit  than  any  other  living 
thing  and  were  termed  "fiery."  For  this  cause  high  initiates  were 
called  "naga,"  or  serpents  of  wisdom;  and  a  living  serpent  was  al- 
ways carried  in  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries.  During  the  bril- 
liant eighteenth  and  nineteenth  Egyptian  dynasties,  Draco  was  a 
great  god;  but  when  this  constellation  lost  its  place  in  the  heavens, 

181 


<i82  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

and  Thuban  ceased  to  be  the  guiding  sidereal  Divinity,  it  shared 
the  fate  of  all  the  fallen  gods.  "The  gods  of  our  fathers  are  our 
devils,"  says  an  Arabic  proverb.  When  Re-Veilings  was  written, 
Draco  had  become  a  fallen  angel  representing  evil  spirituality.  By 
precessional  motion  the  foot  of  Hercules  rests  upon  its  head,  and  we 
find  it  depicted  as  of  the  most  material  color,  red. 

Colors  and  jewels  are  parts  of  astrology;  and  ancient  cities,  as 
Ectabana,  were  built  and  colored  after  the  planets.  The  New  Jeru- 
salem of  Re- Veilings  is  purely  an  astrological  city,  not  to  be  under- 
stood without  a  knowledge  of  mystic  numbers,  letters,  jewels  and 
colors.  So,  also,  the  four  and  twenty  elders  of  Re-Veilings  are 
twenty-four  stars  of  the  Chaldean  Zodiac,  "counsellors"  or  "judges," 
which  rose  and  set  with  it.  Astrology  was  brought  into  great  promi- 
nence by  the  visit  of  the  magi,  the  zodiacal  constellation  Virgo,  the 
"woman  with  a  child,"  ruling  Palestine,  in  which  country  Bethlehem 
is  situated.  The  great  astronomer  and  astrologer,  Ptolemy,  judged 
the  character  of  countries  from  the  signs  ruling  them,  as  to  this  day 
is  done  by  astrologers. 

The  woman  attacked  by  the  great  red  dragon,  Cassiopea,  was 
known  as  Nim-Makh,  the  Mighty  Lady.  For  many  centuries,  at 
intervals  of  about  three  hundred  years,  a  brilliant  star  suddenly  ap- 
peared in  this  constellation,  remaining  visible  a  few  months,  then 
as  suddenly  disappearing.  In  mystic  phraseology  this  star  was  a 
child.  It  was  seen  A.  D.  945,  A.  D.  1264,  and  was  noted  by  Tycho 
Brahe  and  other  astronomers  in  1562,  when  it  suddenly  became  so 
brilliant  that  it  could  be  seen  at  midday,  gradually  assuming  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  great  conflagration,  then  as  gradually  fading  away. 
Since  thus  caught  up  to  the  throne  of  God,  this  star-child  has  not 
again  appeared,  although  watched  for  by  astronomers  during  the 
past  few  years.  The  Greeks,  who  borrowed  so  much  from  the 
Egyptians,  created  from  this  book  the  story  of  Andromeda  and  the 
monster  sent  by  Neptune  to  destroy  her,  while  Madame  Blavatsky 
says  that  St.  John's  dragon  is  Neptune,  a  symbol  of  Atlantaen  magi. 

The  crown  of  twelve  stars  upon  the  head  of  the  apocalyptic 
woman  are  the  twelve  constellations  of  the  Zodiac.  Clothed  with 
the  sun,  woman  here  represents  the  Divinity  of  the  feminine,  its 


COMMENTS  ON  REVELATION.  183 

spirituality  as  opposed  to  the  materiality  of  the  mascuHne;  for  in 
Egypt  the  sun,  as  giver  of  Hfe,  was  regarded  as  feminine,  while  the 
moon,  shining  by  reflected  light,  was  looked  upon  as  masculine. 
With  her  feet  upon  the  moon,  woman,  corresponding  to  and  repre- 
senting the  soul,  portrays  the  ultimate  triumph  of  spiritual  things 
over  material  things — over  the  body,  which  man,  or  the  male  prin- 
ciple, corresponds  to  and  represents. 

"There  was  war  in  heaven."  The  wonderful  progress  and  freedom 
of  woman,  as  woman,  within  the  last  half  century,  despite  the  false 
interpretation  of  the  Bible  by  the  Church  and  by  masculine  power, 
is  the  result  of  this  great  battle ;  and  all  attempts  to  destroy  her  will 
be  futile.  Her  day  and  hour  have  arrived;  the  dragon  of  physical 
power  over  her,  the  supremacy  of  material  things  in  the  world,  as 
depicted  by  the  male  principle,  are  yielding  to  the  spiritual,  repre- 
sented by  woman.  The  eagle,  true  bird  of  the  sun  and  emblem  of 
our  own  great  country,  gives  his  wings  to  her  aid;  and  the  whole 
earth  comes  to  help  her  against  her  destroyer. 

And  thus  must  Re- Veilings  be  left  with  much  truth  untouched, 
yet  with  the  hope  that  what  has  been  written  will  somewhat  help  to 
a  comprehension  of  this  greatly  misunderstood  yet  profoundly  "sa- 
cred" and  "secret"  book,  whose  true  reading  is  of  such  vast  im- 
portance to  the  human  race.  M.  J.  G. 


Here  is  a  little  well  intended  respect  for  woman  as  representing 
the  Church.  In  this  vision  she  appears  clothed  with  the  sun,  and 
the  moon  under  her  feet,  which  denotes  her  superiority,  says  the 
commentator,  to  her  reflected  feebler  light  of  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion. The  crown  of  twelve  stars  on  her  head  represents  her  hon- 
orable maintenance  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  Just  as  the 
woman  was  watched  by  the  dragon,  and  her  children  devoured,  so 
was  the  Church  watched  and  persecuted  by  the  emissaries  of  the 
Papal  hierachy.  The  seven  heads  of  the  dragon  represent  the  seven 
hills  on  which  Rome  is  built;  the  ten  horns,  ten  kingdoms  into  which 
the  Western  empire  was  divided.    The  tail  of  the  dragon  drawing  a 


i84 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


third  part  of  the  stars  represent  the  power  of  the  Romans,  who  had 
conquered  one-third  part  of  the  earth. 


Revelation    xvii. 

3  So  he  carried  me  away  in  the  spirit  into 
the  wilderness;  and  I  saw  a  woman  sit 
upon  a  scarlet  colored  beast,  full  of  names 
of  blasphemy,  having  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns. 

4  And  the  woman  was  arrayed  in  purple 
and  scarlet  color,   and  decked  with  gold 


and  precious  stones  and  pearls,  having  a 
golden  cup  in  her  hand. 

5  And  upon  her  forehead  was  a  name 
written.   Mystery,   Babylon  the  Great. 

i8  And  the  woman  which  thou  sawest  is 
that  great  city,  which  reigneth  over  the 
kings  of  the  earth. 


The  woman  draped  in  scarlet,  seated  on  a  beast,  was  the  emblem 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  beast  represents  the  temporal  power 
by  which  it  has  been  supported.  These  colors  have  always  dis- 
tinguished the  popes  and  the  cardinals,  as  well  as  the  Roman  emper- 
ors and  senators.  The  horses  and  the  mules  were  covered  with 
scarlet  cloth  to  answer  the  description,  and  the  woman  was  decked 
in  the  brightest  colors,  in  gold  and  jewels.  No  one  can  describe 
the  pomp,  splendor  and  magnificence  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The 
cup  in  the  woman's  hand  contained  potions  to  intoxicate  her  vic- 
tims. It  was  the  custom  at  that  time  for  public  women  to  have  their 
names  on  their  foreheads,  and  as  they  represented  the  abominations 
of  social  life,  they  were  often  named  after  cities.  The  writers  of  the 
Bible  are  prone  to  make  woman  the  standard  for  all  kinds  of  abomi- 
nations; and  even  motherhood,  which  should  be  held  most  sacred, 
is  used  to  illustrate  the  most  revolting  crimes.  What  picture  can  be 
more  horrible  than  the  mother,  in  her  hour  of  mortal  agony,  watched 
by  the  dragon  with  his  seven  heads  and  ten  horns! 

Why  so  many  different  revising  committees  of  bishops  and 
clergymen  should  have  retained  this  book  as  holy  and  inspiring  to 
the  ordinary  reader,  is  a  mystery.  It  does  not  seem  possible  that 
the  Divine  John  could  have  painted  these  dark  pictures  of  the  strug- 
gles of  humanity  with  the  Spirit  of  Evil.  Verily,  we  need  an  ex- 
purgated edition  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  before  they 
are  fit  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  our  youth  to  be  read  in  the  public 
schools  and  in  theological  seminaries,  especially  if  we  wish  to  in- 
spire our  children  with  proper  love  and  respect  for  the  Mothers  of  the 
Race.  E.  C.  S. 


APPENDIX. 


"Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion." — Jeremy  Taylor. 


THE  following  letters  and  comments  are  in  answer  to  the  ques- 
tions : 

1.  Have  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  advanced  or  retarded  the 
emancipation  of  women? 

2.  Have  they  dignified  or  degraded  the  Mothers  of  the  Race? 


Dear  Mrs.  Stanton: — I  believe,  as  you  said  in  your  birthday 
address,  that  "women  ought  to  demand  that  the  Canon  law,  the 
Mosaic  code,  the  Scriptures,  prayer-books  and  liturgies  be  purged 
of  all  invidious  distinctions  of  sex,  of  all  false  teaching  as  to  woman's 
origin,  character  and  destiny."  I  believe  that  the  Bible  needs  ex- 
planation and  comment  on  many  statements  therein  which  tend  to 
degrade  woman.  Christ  taught  the  equality  of  the  sexes,  and  Paul 
said:  There  is  neither  male  nor  female;  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Hence  I  welcome  'The  Woman's  Bible"  as  a  needed  com- 
mentary in  regard  to  woman's  position. 

Phebe  a.  Hanaford. 


If  the  suggestions  and  teachings  of  the  various  books  of  our 
Bible,  concerning  women,  are  compared  with  the  times  in  which 

185 


i86  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

severally  they  probably  were  written,  in  general  they  are  certainly 
in  advance  of  most  contemporary  opinion.  The  hurtful  blunder  of 
later  eras  has  been  the  setting  up  of  early,  cruder  standards  touching 
the  relations  of  men  and  of  women,  as  moulding  influences  and 
guides  to  broader  civilizations.     They  cannot  be  authoritative. 

I  believe  that  the  Bible's  Golden  Rule  has  been  the  real  sub- 
stratum of  all  religions,  when  fairly  applied  from  their  own  point  of 
view.  But  the  broader  and  more  discriminating  applications  of  the 
rule  theoretically  both  to  men  and  to  women  in  every  relation  of 
life  have  made,  and  necessarily  must  have  made,  most  of  the  earlier 
practical  regulations  and  teachings,  beneficent  perhaps  in  their  day, 
pernicious  in  ours  when  regarded  as  still  authoritative.  Interpreted 
by  its  fundamental  principles,  in  the  light  of  its  time — not  in  the  fast 
increasing  light  of  ours,  which,  as  I  understand  it,  is  your  searchlight 
and  that  of  your  collaborators — I  have  very  little  quarrel  with  the 
Bible.  But  neither  have  I  much  quarrel  with  Buddhism,  with 
Paganism  in  general,  or  with  any  serious  religious  cult,  tested  in 
the  same  way. 

Turn  on  the  light  and  so  change  the  point  of  view.  But  criticism 
of  ancient  creeds,  literatures  or  morals,  to  be  entirely  fair  and  just, 
must  be  comparative  criticism.  To  be  broadly  comparative  it  must 
virtually  include  contemporary  and  intermediate  as  well  as  existing 
creeds,  literatures  or  morals.     Very  sincerely  yours, 

Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell. 


Like  the  shield  which  was  gold  on  one  side  and  silver  on  the 
other,  the  Bible  has  two  sides  or  aspects.  As  travellers  ap- 
proaching the  shield  from  opposite  directions  quarrelled  over  its 
nature  because  each  saw  only  that  side  which  he  had  approached, 
people  have  differed  in  their  view  of  the  Bible  and  its  influence  upon 
mankind  because  only  one  aspect  has  been  visible  to  them. 

Acceptance  of  the  Bible  literally  tends  to  retard  the  develop- 
ment of  both  man  and  woman,  and  consequently  the  establishment 


APPENDIX.  187 


of  their  highest  and  best  relation  to  each  other,  a  relation  upon 
which  depends  their  usefulness  to  the  community.  Both  the  law 
of  Moses  and  the  teachings  of  Paul,  thus  considered,  belittle  woman 
more  than  they  exalt  her.  While  words  of  praise  and  promises  of 
future  place  and  power  are  not  altogether  lacking,  this  is  the  im- 
pression left  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  who  is  not  able  to  pass 
around  to  the  other  side  and  gain  another  view. 

Exoterically  considered,  the  Bible  offers  less  of  the  ethical  and 
the  spiritual  than  of  the  physical  possibilities  of  woman  as  the  com- 
plement to  man;  but  esoterically  considered,  it  is  found  to  exact 
the  spiritual  possibilities  above  the  rest — above  even  the  like  possi- 
bilities of  the  man.  The  Bible  has  been,  and  will  continue  to  be,  a 
stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  development  of  inherent  resources, 
consequently  of  the  truest  civilization,  in  proportion  to  the  strength 
of  its  exoteric  aspect  with  the  people.  It  will  cease  to  be  a  stumbling 
block  and  become  a  powerful  impetus  in  the  desired  direction  instead, 
when  its  inner  meaning  becomes  revelator,  companion  and  friend. 

In  the  literal  rendering  of  the  Bible,  woman  appears  first  and 
above  all  as  man's  subordinate;  but  this  inner  meaning  shows  her 
first  and  above  all  as  the  individual  equal  wath  him,  and  afterward 
his  complement,  or  what  she  is  able  to  be  for  him.  Portrayed  as  the 
mother  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  one  woman  is  exalted  above  all 
women  when  only  physical  motherhood  is  seen;  and  the  consequence 
has  been  that  one  woman  has  been  worshiped  and  the  sex  has  been 
crucified.  This  one  woman  has  been  lifted  above  her  place;  and 
all  women  have  fallen  correspondingly  below  it. 

Not  till  "the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world"  shall  pierce  with  its  rays  the  darkness  of  the  sensuous  na- 
ture, will  woman's  spiritual  motherhood  for  the  race,  be  discerned 
as  the  way  of  its  redemption  from  that  darkness  and  its  conse- 
quences. As  that  light  is  uncovered  in  individual  souls  the  inner 
meaning  of  the  Bible  will  appear,  woman's  nature  as  the  individual 
and  her  true  relativity  to  man  be  seen.  Then  the  mistakes  which 
have  been  ignorantly  made  will  be  rectified,  because  both  sides  of 
the  shield  will  be  seen.  Men  and  women  will  clasp  hands  as  com- 
rades with  a  common  destiny;  religion  and  science  will  each  reveal 


THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 


their  destiny  and  prove  that  truth  which  the  Bible  even  exoterically 
declares  that  "the  woman  is  the  glory  of  the  man." 

Ursula  N.  Gestefeld. 


It  is  requested  that  I  shall  answer  two  questions: 

1.  Has  the  Bible  advanced  or  retarded  woman's  emancipation? 

2.  Has  it  elevated  or  degraded  the  Mothers  of  the  Race? 

If  by  "emancipation"  is  meant  the  social,  legal  and  political 
position  of  women,  and  if  by  the  "Bible"  the  authorized  version  of 
the  Old  Testament,  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  opponents 
of  that  emancipation  have  not  derived  their  narrow  views  from 
many  passages  in  the  Bible.  This,  however,  applies  only  to  the 
exoteric  interpretation,  the  weak  points  of  which  have  been  so  merci- 
lessly exposed  in  Part  I.  of  "The  Woman's  Bible." 

The  Divine  wisdom  whose  occult  truths  form  the  basis  of  Juda- 
ism, of  Christianity  and  of  all  other  religions,  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  subjection  of  sex:  and  to  be  fair  we  must  confess  that  there  are 
many  texts  in  the  exoteric  version  which  proclaim  the  equality  of 
woman,  notably  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  I  believe  that  H.  P. 
Blavatsky  was  right  when  she  said  of  the  Bible:  "It  is  a  grand 
volume,  a  masterpiece  composed  of  clever,  ingenious  fables,  con- 
taining great  verities;  but  it  reveals  the  latter  only  to  those  who, 
like  the  Initiates,  have  a  key  to  its  inner  meaning;  a  tale  sublime  in 
its  morality  and  didactics  truly — still  a  tale  and  an  allegory;  a  reper- 
tory of  invented  personages  in  its  older  Jewish  portions,  and  of  dark 
sayings  and  parables  in  its  later  additions,  and  thus  quite  misleading 
to  any  one  ignorant  of  its  esotericism." 

This  being  the  case,  the  discussion  which  "The  Woman's  Bible'* 
raises  is  to  my  judgment  somewhat  futile.  It  is  said  jthat  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation  the  Bible  degrades  woman.  Does  it  not,  as 
it  stands,  equally  4n  many  passages  degrade  thejconception  of  the 
Supreme  Being?  Many  noble  and  Divine  truths  have  been  utterly 
degraded  by  the  coarse  fa^iacies  of  men^— AlLtjiisJs  so  sure  to  be 
made  clear  in  the  near  future  that  I  am  doubtful  of  the  wisdom  of 


APPENDIX.  189 


laying  too  much  stress  on  passages  whose  meaning  is  entirely  mis- 
understood by  the  vast  majority  of  Christians. 

Slowly  we  see  a  light  breaking.  When  the  dawn  comes  we  shall 
have  a  revision  of  the  Bible  on  very  different  lines  from  any  yet  at- 
tempted. In  the  meantime  may  we  not  ask,  Is  there  any  curse  or 
crime  which  has  not  appealed  to  the  Bible  for  support?  Polygamy, 
capital  punishment,  slavery  and  war  have  all  done  so.  Why  not 
the  subjection  of  women?  Let  us  hold  fast  that  which  is  good  in 
the  Bible  and  the  rest  will  modify  itself  in  the  future,  as  it  has  done  in 
the  past,  to  the  needs  of  humanity  and  the  advance  of  knowledge. 

London,  England,  Ursula  Bright. 


Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton: — Dear  Madam:  I  have  re- 
ceived your  letter  and  the  specimen  of  "The  Woman's  Bible"  which 
you  have  sent  me.  I  have  not  had  time  to  examine  it  minutely; 
but  I  have  been  aware  of  your  purpose  from  the  beginning.  I  am 
afraid  that  I  cannot  say  anything  which  you  will  wish  to  print;  for  I 
look  upon  the  Bible  very  differently  from  what  you  do. 

I  have  no  superstitious  reverence  for  it,  but  hold  it  in  high  re- 
gard as  a  valuable  collection  of  very  old  literature  well  representing 
the  thought  and  the  life  of  a  great,  earnest  people  at  different  periods 
of  their  career.  As  such,  it  is  full  of  precious  lessons  of  wisdom  and 
of  sweet  and  beautiful  poetry.  I  certainly  could  not  endorse  Mr. 
White's  statement;  for  I  have  very  recently  in  public  lectures  spo- 
ken of  the  great  value  of  this  collection  as  one  of  the  best  educators 
of  the  common  people  in  Christendom  generally,  and  especially  in 
Scotland  and  the  United  States.  I  should  say  the  same,  so  far  as 
my  knowledge  extends,  of  the  Koran  and  other  so-called  sacred 
books. 

That  the  superstitions  worship  of  the  Bible  as  a  direct  revelation 
from  God,  and  the  practice  of  using  what  is  merely  the  history  of 
human  life  as  authority  for  human  action  now,  or  as  prophecy,  has 
produced  or  strengthened  great  evils  in  the  world  I  readily  admit. 


190  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

and  I  welcome  all  the  thorough  and  searching  criticism  which  can 
be  applied  to  the  Bible,  but  nothing  is  gained  by  exaggeration. 
There  are  noble  examples  of  woman  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the 
heroic  type,  as  in  the  New  Testament  of  the  tender  and  loving  one. 

The  whole  subject  of  the  relations  of  the  sexes  is  a  deep  and 
difficult  one;  and  the  ages  have  been  struggling  with  it.  That 
woman  is  handicapped  by  peculiarities  of  physical  structure  seems 
evident;  and  according  to  the  character  of  the  age  these  are  more  or 
less  unfavorable.  Civilization  in  many  instances  has  emphasized 
and  increased  them  to  her  great  disadvantage;  but  it  is  only  by 
making  her  limitations  her  powers  that  the  balance  can  be  restored, 
and  in  an  age  of  more  intellectual  and  spiritual  superiority  this  will 
come  to  pass.  I  read  this  in  the  development  of  woman's  life  in 
education,  in  industry  and  in  self-support. 

1  have  tried  to  express  my  views  frankly,  although  I  cannot  fully 
illustrate  them  in  a  brief  letter,  which  is  all  I  have  time  for  at  present. 
Your  own  active  mind  will  follow  out  whatever  there  is  of  value  in 
my  thought.  Yours  very  respectfully, 

Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.  Ednah  D.  Cheney. 


The  Bible — both  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New, 
express  the  views  in  regard  tq^wojnanjwhich_preyailed  when  those 
books  were  writtenT"  The  conception  in  regard  to  woman  was  that 
she  was  naturally  m^n^  inferior,  that  her  position  slioufd  be  one  of 
subordinatioji,  .that  she  should  have  no  will  of  her  own,  except  as  it 
was  in  accord  with  that  of  her  father,  husband,  or  master. 

The  enlightened  portions  of  the  world  have  gradually  been  out- 
growing these  ideas.  This  progress  has  constantly  been  opposed 
by  the  influence  of  Bible  teachings  on  the  subject.  The  influence 
of  the  Bible  against  the  elevation  of  woman,  like  its  influence  in 
favor  of  slavery,  has  been  great  because  of  the  infallibility  and  the 
Divine  authority  with  which  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  have  been 
invested.     If  the  Bible  had,  like  other  books,  been  judged  by  its 


APPENDIX.  191 


actual  merits,  in  the  light  of  reason  and  common  sense,  its  teachings 
about  woman  would  have  had  no  authoritative  weight;  but  when 
millions  have  for  centuries  been  brought  up  to  believe  that  the  Bible 
is  an  inspired  and  infallible  revelation  from  God,  its  influence  has 
been  mischievous  in  a  thousand  ways. 

A  collection  of  books  which  teaches,  as  from  God,  that  man  was 
made  first  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  woman  for  man  simply;  that 
woman  was  first  to  sin,  and  therefore  should  be  in  submission  to 
man;  that  motherhood  implies  moral  impurity  and  requires  a  sin 
offering  (twice  as  much  in  the  case  of  a  female  as  a  male  child),  must 
have  continued  to  keep  woman  in  a  degraded  condition  just  in  pro- 
portion as  such  ideas  have  been  believed  to  be  true  and  inspired  by  J 
God. 

The  advancement  of  woman  throughout  Christendom  has  been 
going  on  only  where  these  doctrines  have  been  outgrown  or  modi- 
fied through  the  influence  of  science,  of  skepticism,  and  of  liberal 
thought  generally.  That  the  Bible  does  teach  that  woman's  posi- 
tion should  be  one  of  subordination  and  submission  to  man,  and 
that  through  her  first  came  sin  into  the  world,  is  indisputable;  and 
■I  do  not  see  how  such  teachings,  believed  to  be  direct  from  God, 
can  be  accepted  without  retarding  woman's  progress.  Mr.  Lecky 
and  others  have  shown  historically  that  these  Oriental  conceptions 
have  distinctly  degraded  woman  wherever  they  have  prevailed. 

What  we  should  naturally  expect  to  have  resulted  from  these 
conceptions  is  shown  by  experience  actually  to  have  been  the  result 
of  such  teachings,  enforced  by  the  authority  of  Moses  and  of  St. 
Paul. 

The  idea  of  woman's  equality  with  man  in  all  natural  rights  and 
opportunities  finds  no  support  in  the  Bible.  The  doctrine  that  there 
is  neither  male  nor  female,  neither  bond  nor  free,  in  Christ  Jesus, 
had  no  practical  application  to  social  conditions.  It  left  the  slave 
in  chains,  and  the  woman  in  fetters.  Where  the  old  theological 
dogmas  respecting  woman  are  the  least  impaired,  woman's  condi- 
tion is  the  least  hopeful.  Where  the  authority  of  reason  is  in  the 
ascendant,  or  where  it  is  superseding  the  authority  of  book  revela- 
tions, of  creeds  and  of  churches,  woman's  position  is  the  most  ad- 


192  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

vanced,  her  rights  are  the  most  completely  recognized,  her  oppor- 
tunities for  progress  the  most  fully  allowed,  and  her  character  the 
most  fully  developed.  Sarah  A.  Underwood. 


A  solution,  in  accordance  with  the  fundamental  laws  of  ethics, 
of  the  woman  question,  which  is  a  part  of  the  great  social  question, 
can  be  arrived  at  only  by  a  transformation  of  the  social  order  of 
things,  made  in  conformity  with  the  principle  of  equal  liberty  and 
equal  justice  to  each  and  every  one. 

As  a  necessary  proposition  to  let  this  principle  be  universally 
recognized,  we  must  designate  the  philosophical  view  of  the  world, 
based  upon  scientific  Materialism,  which  former,  penetrated  by  the 
conviction  that  the  natural  doctrine  of  evolution  also  retains  its 
validity  with  regard  to  the  mental,  vital  principles  of  humanity,  be- 
lieves in  the  social,  political  and  ethical  evolution  of  human  society, 
from  which  progressive  evolution  the  equal  claim  to  all  social  rela- 
tions of  the  female  and  the  male  halves  of  humanity  are  inseparable. 

As  the  firmest  enemy  of  modern  ethics  based  upon  scientific 
knowledge  of  natural  laws,  there  stands  the  Christian  religion,  the 
outspring  of  the  Jewish  one,  which  former,  resting  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  necessary  subordination  of  woman  to  man,  in  conse- 
quence thereof  energetically  combats  the  attempts  for  equal  rights 
to  both  sexes,  and,  as  far  as  lies  in  its  power,  ever  will  and  must  com- 
bat the  same. 

To  the  influence  of  the  Christian  Church  upon  social  conditions 
we  must  in  the  first  instance  ascribe  that,  notwithstanding  all  ad- 
vances of  culture,  the  mental  development  of  the  female  sex  has 
been  systematically  kept  back  through  all  these  tens  of  centuries. 
And  not  only  for  the  reason  that  the  Christian  religion  considers 
woman  as_a^_creature  inferior  to  man,  owing_t£Lth£jegendary  eating 
of  the  apple  by  Eve  ("sSatanT^^ayi^  St.  Augustine,  "considered  the 
man  to  be  less  credulous  and  appfoachabre^,T)Ut  also — ^and  pos- 
sibly foremost  of  all — for  the  reason  Th^'thE  "Christian  tTlTurch  knows 
very  well  that  in  woman,  intellectually  undeveloped,  and  therefore 


APPENDIX.  193 


easy  to  be  led,  and  ready  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  priestly  promptings, 
it  possesses  its  most  powerful  ally,  and  knows  that  it  would  lose  that 
powerful  support  as  soon  as  women,  by  a  thorough  mental  training, 
by  an  elevating  education  adapted  to  their  condition  of  mind  and  of 
fortune,  would  be  taken  away  from  clerical  influences. 

As  a  contrast  to  the  lying  statement,  which  falsifies  the  historical 
facts,  that  the  Christian  religion  has  raised  the  condition  of  woman, 
the  Christian  Church  offers  to  woman  nothing  but  serfdom.  And 
it  is  the  first  duty  of  those  women  who  combat  for  right  and  liberty 
to  unite  in  the  fight  against  religious  obscurity,  against  the  powers 
of  darkness  and  the  suppression  resting  on  the  Church,  that  revolu- 
tion of  the  mind  for  which  the  most  elevated  thinkers  of  all  time 
have  suffered  and  fought,  and  to  whose  deeds  alone  we  owe  all  ad- 
vances in  the  mental  freeing  of  humanity  and  all  accomplishments 
of  the  awakening  consciousness  of  justice. 

Vienna,  Austria.  Irma  von  Troll-Borostyani. 


My  Dear  Mrs.  Stanton: — I  thank  you  very  much  for  the  book 
which  I  have  received  and  shall  consider  with  interest.  I  respond 
at  once  and  heartily  to  the  inquiry  with  which  you  have  honored  me. 

I  consider  the  Bible  the  most  wonderful  record  of  the  evolution  of 
spiritual  life  which  our  race  possesses.  The  sympathetic  justice 
displayed  by  the  Christ  when  he  said,  "Let  him  that  is  without  sin 
cast  the  first  stone,"  will  be  the  inspiration  of  the  future  for  man  and 
for  woman  alike. 

With  cordial  remembrance  of  the  past  and  hope  for  the  future, 
I  am  Sincerely  yours, 

Hastings,  London,  England.  Elizabeth  Blackwell. 


Since  it  is  accepted  that  the  status  of  woman  is  the  gauge  of 
civilization,  this  is  the  burning  question  which  now  presents  itself 
to  Christendom.     If  the  Bible  had  elevated  woman  to  her  present 


194  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

status,  it  would  seem  that  the  fact  could  be  demonstrated  beyond 
question;  yet  to-day  the  whole  Christian  world  is  on  the  defensive, 
trying  to  prove  the  validity  of  this  claim.  Despite  the  opposition 
of  Bible  teaching,  woman  has  secured  the  right  to  education,  to  speak 
and  to  print  her  thoughts;  therefore  her  answer  to  these  questions 
will  decide  the  fate  of  Christian  civilization. 

r^    In  Genesis  the  Bible  strikes  the  key-note  of  woman's  inferiority 

and  subjection;  and  the  note  rings  true  through  every  accepted  and 

rejected  book  which  has  ever  constituted  the  Bible.     In  the  face  of 

J  this  fact,  the  supreme  effort  of  the  Christian  Church  has  been  to  in- 

/  culcate  the  idea  that  Christianity  alone  has  elevated  woman,  and  that 

'  all  other  religions  have  degraded  and  enslaved  her.     It  has  feared 

nothing  so  much  as  to  face  the  truth. 

Women  have  but  to  read  the  Bible  and  the  history  of  Christianity 
in  conjunction  with  the  sacred  books  and  the  histories  of  other  re- 
ligions to  discover  the  falsity  of  this  claim,  and  that  the  Bible  can- 
not stand  the  light  of  truth.  The  Bible  estimate  of  woman  is 
summed  up  in  the  words  of  the  president  of  a  leading  theological 
seminary  when  he  exclaimed  to  his  students,  "My  Bible^commands 
the  subjection  of  women  forever." 

In  an  address  "to  "the-gfa4«a:tmg  class  of  a  woman's  college  in 
England,  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  awarding  the  diplomas,  said:  "Young 
women,  you  who  belong  to  the  favored  half  of  the  human  race, 
enormous  changes  have  taken  place  in  your  positions  as  members 
of  society.  It  is  almost  terrible  to  look  back  upon  the  state  of 
women  sixty  years  ago,  upon  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
viewed  by  the  law,  and  the  scanty  provision  made  for  their  welfare, 
and  the  gross  injustice,  the  flagrant  injustice,  the  shameful  injustice, 
to  which  in  certain  particulars  they  were  subjected.  Great  changes 
are  taking  place,  and  greater  are  impending."  For  centuries  Eng- 
land has  been  the  light  of  the  Christian  world;  yet  what  an  indict- 
ment is  this  against  Christian  England  by  the  greatest  living  de- 
fender of  the  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion. 

This  one  statement  of  Mr,  Gladstone  at  once  refutes  the  claim 
that  the  Bible  has  elevated  woman,  and  confirms  the  idea  of  the 
president  of  the  theological  seminary.     Add  to  these  declarations 


APPENDIX.  195 


the  true  condition  of  women  to-day,  and  the  testimony  that  the 
Bible  bears  against  itself,  and  the  falsity  of  the  claim  that  it  has  ele- 
vated woman  is  at  once  established.  If  Mr.  Gladstone  acknowledges 
the  "gross,  flagrant  and  shameful  injustice"  to  woman  sixty  years 
ago  in  Christian  England,  what  can  be  said  of  woman's  condition 
six  hundred,  or  sixteen  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  Bible  held  the 
greatest  sway  over  the  human  mind  and  Christianity  was  at  the 
zenith  of  its  power,  when  it  was  denied  that  woman  has  a  soul,  when 
she  was  bought  and  sold  as  the  cattle  of  the  field,  robbed  of  her  name, 
her  children,  her  property,  and  "elevated"  (?)  on  the  gibbet  of  in- 
famy, and  on  the  high  altar  of  lust  by  the  decree  of  the  Christian 
priesthood? 

If  it  can  be  proven  that  during  the  last  thousand  years  the  Christ- 
ian clergy,  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  have  pointed  out  or  at- 
tempted to  remove  one  single  cruelty  or  wrong  which  women  have 
suffered,  noiv  is  the  opportune  time  to  furnish  such  proof.  Now, 
to-day,  when  woman  herself  is  rising  in  her  mental  majesty,  and 
when  her  wrongs  are  being  righted,  Christianity  is  dead  in  the 
strongest  brains  and  the  most  heroic  hearts  of  Europe  and  of 
America;  and  now,  when  the  myth  and  the  miracle  of  Bible  teach- 
ing have  lost  their  hold  on  the  minds  of  people,  this  is  the  very  age 
when  the  position  of  woman  is  more  exalted  than  it  has  ever  been 
since  Chrisianity  began. 

If  even  the  claim  that  the  Bible  has  elevated  woman  to  her  pres- 
ent status  were  true,  when  the  light  is  turned  on  to  the  social,  do- 
mestic and  religious  life  of  the  Christian  world,  this  achievement 
reflects  no  credit  on  Bible  teaching.  After  nineteen  hundred  years 
no  woman's  thought  has  ever  been  incorporated  into  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal or  civil  code  of  any  Christian  land. 

Monogamic  marriage  is  the  strongest  institution  of  the  Christian 
system;  yet  all  the  men  of  the  Old  Testament  were  polygamists; 
and  Christ  and  Paul,  the  central  figures  of  the  New  Testament,  were 
celibates  and  condemned  marriage  by  both  precept  and  example. 
In  Christian  lands  monogamy  is  strictly  demanded  of  women;  but 
bigamy,  trigamy,  and  polygamy  are  in  reality  practised  by  men  as 
one  of  the  methods  of  elevating  women.     Largely,  the  majority  of 


196  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

men  have  one  legal  wife ;  but  assisted  by  a  small  per  cent,  of  youths 
and  of  bachelors^,  Christendom  maintains  an  army  of  several  millions 
of  courtesans.  Thousands  of  wretched  women  are  yearly  driven  to 
graves  in  the  potter's  field,  while  manhood  is  degraded  by  deception, 
by  drunkenness  and  by  disease;  and  the  blood  of  the  innocents  cries 
out  against  a  system  which  thus  "elevates"  woman. 

The  Bible  says  that  "a  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit;"  yet  this  tree 
is  carefully  pruned,  watered,  and  tended  as  the  "Tree  of  life"  whose 
fruit,  in  the  words  of  Archdeacon  Farrar,  "alone  elevates  woman, 
and  shrouds  as  with  a  halo  of  sacred  innocence  the  tender  years  of 
the  child."  The  Bible  records  that  God  created  woman  by  a  method 
different  from  that  employed  in  bringing  into  life  any  other  creature, 
then  cursed  her  for  seeking  knowledge ;  yet  God  declares  in  the  Bible : 
"My  people  are  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge."  "Because  thou 
hast  rejected  knowledge  I  will  reject  thee."  "Add  to  your  faith 
virtue,  and  to  virtue  knowledge,"  and  knowledge  is  the  savior  of  the 
human  race. 

Ever  since  Eve  was  cursed  for  seeking  knowledge,  the  priest 
with  the  Bible  in  his  hands  has  pronounced  her  the  most  unnatural, 
untrustworthy  and  dangerous  creation  of  God.  She  has  been  given 
away  as  a  sheep  at  the  marriage  altar,  classed  with  the  ox  and  the 
ass,  cursed  in  maternity,  required  to  receive  purification  at  the  hands 
of  the  priest  for  the  crime  of  child-bearing,  her  body  enslaved,  and 
robbed  of  her  name  and  of  her  property. 

The  ownership  of  the  wife  established  and  perpetuated  through 
Bible  teaching  is  responsible  for  the  domestic  pandemonium  and 
the  carnival  of  wife  murder  which  reigns  throughout  Christendom. 
In  the  United  States  alone,  in  the  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-sev- 
enth year  of  the  Christian  era,  3,482  wives,  many  with  unborn  chil- 
dren in  their  bodies,  have  been  murdered  in  cold  blood  by  their 
husbands;  yet  the  Christian  clergy  from  their  pulpits  reprove  wo- 
men for  not  bearing  more  children,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  mil- 
lions of  the  children  who  have  been  born  by  Christian  women  are 
homeless  tramps,  degraded  drunkards,  victims  ol  disease,  inmates 
of  insane  asylums  or  prisons,  condemned  to  the  scaffold,  or  bond 
slaves  to  priests  or  to  plutocrats  who  revel  in  wealth  at  the  expense 


APPENDIX.  197 


of  women  whom  it  is  claimed  that  the  Bible  has  "emancipated  and 
elevated." 

"Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  con- 
ceive me."  This  declaration  of  the  Bible  puts  the  brand  of  infamy 
upon  every  woman  who  ever  bore  a  child;  and  this,  it  is  claimed, 
elevates  the  Mothers  of  the  Race.  The  wife  who  places  her  destiny 
in  the  keeping  of  the  father  of  her  children  bestows  upon  Him  the 
wealth  of  her  affection,  who  is  to  bear  the  blood  and  the  name  of  her 
husband  to  conquests  yet  undreamed  of,  and  to  generations  yet  un- 
born, is  by  Divine  decree  made  a  fountain  of  iniquity.  Would  not 
men  and  women  rather  pluck  their  tongues  out  by  the  roots  than 
brand  with  infamy  the  mothers  who  went  down  into  the  valley  and 
the  shadow  of  death  to  give  birth  to  them? 

Place  the  Bible  Trinity  of  "Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost"  beside 
the  Homeric  trinity,  "Father,  Mother  and  Child,"  and  prove  that 
the  Bible  has  elevated  woman.  The  Homeric  conception  of  woman 
towers  like  the  Norway  pine  above  the  noxious  growth  of  the  Mosaic 
ideal.  Compare  the  men  and  the  women  of  the  Bible  with  the  stately 
figures  culled  from  the  temple  of  Pagan  antiquity.  Zipporah  de- 
nouncing Moses  as  a  "bloody  husband,"  Abraham  sending  Hagar 
and  his  child  into  the  desert  and  pocketing  twice  over  the  gains  from 
his  wife's  prostitution ;  Lot  and  his  daughters;  Judah  and  his  daugh- 
ter-in-law, Onan;  Yamar,  the  Levite,  and  his  concubine;  David  and 
Bath-sheba;  Solomon  in  the  sewer  of  sensuahsm;  Rahab,  Aholibah, 
Mary  of  Bethlehem,  and  Mary  Magdala. 

Place  these  by  the  side  of  the  man  and  the  woman,  Hector  and 
Andromache,  of  the  "Iliad,"  who  called  upon  the  immortal  gods  to 
bless  their  child  of  love;  the  virgin  Isis  with  her  son  Horus;  the 
Vedic  virgin  Indrance,  the  mother  of  the  savior-god,  Indra ;  Devaki 
and  her  Divine  child,  Chrishna;  Hipparchia,  Pandora,  Protogenia, 
Cornelia,  Plotina,  and  a  host  of  the  noble  and  virtuous  of  Pagan 
history.  Prove  by  comparing  these  with  the  position  of  woman  in 
Christendom  that  woman  owes  all  that  she  is  to  the  Bible. 

Compare  Ruth  of  the  Bible  with  the  magnificent  Pagan,  Penel- 
ope, who  refused  the  hands  of  kings,  was  as  true  to  her  love  as  the 
star  is  to  the  pole,  who,  after  years  of  waiting,  clasped  the  old  wan- 


198  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


derer  in  rags  to  her  heart,  her  husband,  her  long-lost  Ulysses;  yet 
this  Pagan  woman  lived  ten  centuries  before  the  laws  of  Moses  and 
of  Christ  were  promulgated.  While  there  are  millions  of  Penelopes 
in  Christendom,  there  are  other  millions  of  women,  after  centuries  of 
Bible  teaching,  who  lie  outside  the  pale  of  motherhood,  and  even 
outside  of  the  pale  of  swine-hood.  Under  Bible  teaching  the  scarlet 
woman  is  "anathema,  marantha,"  while  the  scarlet  man  holds  high 
place  in  the  Sanctuary  and  the  State. 

The  by-paths  of  ecclesiastical  history  are  fetid  with  the  records 
of  crimes  against  women;  and  "the  half  has  never  been  told."  And 
what  of  the  history  which  Christianity  is  making  to-day?  Answer, 
ye  victims  of  domestic  warfare  who  crowd  the  divorce  courts  of 
Bible  lands.  Answer,  ye  wretched  offspring  of  involuntary  moth- 
erhood. Answer,  ye  five  hundred  thousand  outcast  women  of 
Christian  America,  who  should  have  been  five  hundred  thousand 
blessings,  bearing  humanity  in  your  unvitiated  blood  down  the 
streams  of  time.  Answer,  ye  mental  dwarfs  and  moral  monstrosi- 
ties, and  tell  what  the  Holy  Bible  has  done  for  you. 

While  these  answers  echo  through  the  stately  cathedrals  of  Bible 
lands,  if  the  priest,  with  the  Holy  Bible  in  his  hands,  can  show  just 
cause  why  woman  should  not  look  to  reason  and  to  science  rather 
than  to  Scripture  for  deliverance,  "let  him  speak  fiow,  or  forever 
after  hold  his  peace." 

When  Reason  reigns  and  Science  lights  the  way,  a  countless 
host  of  women  will  move  in  majesty  down  the  coming  centuries. 
A  voice  will  cry,  "Who  are  these?"  and  the  answer  will  ring  out: 
"These  are  the  mothers  of  the  coming  race,  who  have  locked  the 
door  of  the  Temple  of  Faith  and  thrown  the  key  av/ay;  'these  are 
they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation  and  have  washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the'  fountain  of  knowledge." 

Josephine  K.  Henry. 


My  Dear  Mrs.  Stanton: — To  say  that  "the  Bible  for  two  thou- 
sand years  has  been  the  greatest  block  in  the  way  of  civilization"  is 


APPENDIX.  199 

misleading.  Until  the  Protestant  reformation,  the  Bible  was  hid- 
den from  the  common  people  by  the  hierarchs  of  the  Roman  Catho' 
lie  Church ;  and  it  is  only  about  three  centuries  that  it  has  been  read 
in  the  vernacular. 

I  cannot  agree  with  you  that  "the  Bible  degrades  women  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation."  The  Bible,  which  is  a  collection  of  ancient 
literature,  historic,  prophetic,  poetic  and  epistolary,  is  valuable  as 
showing  the  status  of  woman  at  the  time  when  the  books  were  writ- 
ten. And  the  advice,  or  the  commands,  to  women  given  by  Paul 
in  the  Epistles,  against  which  there  has  been  so  much  railing,  when 
studied  in  the  light  of  the  higher  criticism,  with  the  aid  of  cotem- 
porary  history  and  Greek  scholarship,  show  Paul  to  have  been  in 
advance  of  the  religious  teachers  of  his  time. 

All  these  commands  that  have  ofifended  us  in  the  past  appear  in 
his  Epistles  to  the  churches  in  cities  of  Greece,  where  marriage  was 
bitter  slavery  to  women.  Paul  was  aiming  to  uplift  marriage  to  the 
level  of  the  great  Christian  idea,  as  he  uttered  it,  in  Gal.  iii.,  28: 
"There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Christianity  is  simply  the  universal  fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  uni- 
versal brotherhood  of  man.  And  Paul  was  declaring  this  in  the 
utterance  which  I  have  quoted.  All  the  unjust  distinctions  of  race 
and  of  caste,  all  the  oppressions  of  slavery  and  the  degradations  of 
woman  were  effaced  by  the  two  cardinal  doctrines  of  pristine 
Christianity;  and  Paul  seems  to  have  lived  up  to  his  teaching. 

I  cannot  say  that  "Christianity  has  been  the  foe  of  woman." 
The  study  of  the  evolution  of  woman  does  not  show  this.  My  later 
studies  have  changed  many  of  my  earlier  crude  notions  concerning 
the  development  of  woman.  She  has  developed  slowly,  and  so  has 
man;  and  the  history  of  the  past  shows  that  every  activity  of  man 
v/hich  has  advanced  him  has  been  shared  by  her. 

There  is  so  wide  a  belief  among  orthodox  people,  nowadays,  in 
what  Professor  Briggs  calls  "the  errancy  of  the  Bible,"  that  I  doubt 
if  you  will  be  attacked,  no  matter  how  startling  may  be  your  heresies 
in  Part  II.  Nobody  cares  much  about  heresy  in  these  days;  and 
my  desire  to  withhold  my  name  from  your  work,  as  an  endorser, 


THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


comes  from  my  utter  ignorance  of  it,  and  from  my  belief  that  I 
should  disagree  with  yoU;,  judging  from  your  letter  before  me. 

Yours  very  truly, 

M.  A.   LiVERMORE. 


My  Dear  Mrs.  Stanton: — You  have  sent  to  me  the  following 
questions:  "Have  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  advanced  or  retarded 
the  emancipation  of  women?  Have  they  dignified  or  degraded  the 
Mothers  of  the  Race?" 

In  reply  I  would  say,  that  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  nations  which 
treat  women  with  the  most  consideration  are  all  Christian  nations; 
the  countries  in  which  women  have  open  to  them  all  the  opportuni- 
ties for  education  which  men  possess  are  Christian  countries;  co- 
education originated  in  Christian  colleges;  the  professions  and  the 
trades  are  closed  to  us  in  all  except  Christian  lands;  and  woman's 
ballot  is  unknown  except  where  the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  mellowed 
the  hearts  of  men  until  they  became  willing  to  do  women  justice. 
Wherever  we  find  an  institution  for  the  care  and  the  comfort  of  the 
defective  or  the  dependent  classes,  that  institution  was  founded  by 
men  and  women  who  were  Christians  by  heredity  and  by  training. 

No  such  woman  as  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  with  her  heart 
aflame  against  all  forms  of  injustice  and  of  cruelty,  with  her  in- 
tellect illumed  and  her  tongue  quickened  into  eloquence,  has  ever 
been  produced  in  a  country  where  the  Bible  was  not  incorporated 
into  the  thoughts  and  the  afifections  of  the  people  and  had  not  been 
so  during  many  generations. 

I  think  that  men  have  read  their  own  selfish  theories  into  the 
Book,  that  theologians  have  not  in  the  past  sufficiently  recognized 
the  progressive  quality  of  its  revelation,  nor  adequately  discrimin- 
ated between  its  records  as  history  and  its  principles  of  ethics  and 
of  religion,  nor  have  they  until  recently  perceived  that  it  is  not  in 
any  sense  a  scientific  treatise;  but  I  believe  that  the  Bible  comes  to 
us  from  God,  and  that  it  is  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  of  practice. 
I  believe  that  it  is  no  accident  which  has  placed  this  Book  at  the 


APPENDIX.  201 


parting  of  the  ways  between  a  good  life  and  a  bad  one,  and  en- 
shrined it  at  the  centre  of  the  hoHest  scenes  which  the  heart  can 
know,  placing  it  in  the  pastor's  hand  at  the  wedding  and  at'  the  grave, 
on  the  father's  knee  at  family  prayer,  in  the  trembling  fingers  of  the 
sick,  and  at  the  pillow  of  the  dying,  making  it  the  hope  of  the  peni- 
tent and  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  of  those  who  sin. 

To  me  the  Bible  is  the  dear  and  sacred  home  book  which  makes 
a  hallowed  motherhood  possible  because  it  raises  woman  up,  and 
with  her  lifts  toward  heaven  the  world.  This  is  the  faith  taught  to 
me  by  those  whom  I  have  most  revered  and  cherished;  it  has  pro- 
duced the  finest  characters  which  I  have  ever  known;  by  it  I  pro- 
pose to  Hve;  and  holding  to  the  truth  which  it  brings  to  us,  I  expect 
to  pass  from  this  world  to  one  even  more  full  of  beauty  and  of  hope. 

Believe  me,  honored  co-worker  for  the  enfranchisement  of  wo- 
men, 

Yours  with  sisterly  regard, 

Frances  E.  Willard. 


Among  the  letters  in  reply  to  the  interrogatories  propounded 
are  two,  noticeable  because  they  are  in  such  a  striking  contrast  to 
that  of  Mrs.  Josephine  K.  Henry,  which  immediately  precedes  them. 
Their  first  marked  characteristic  is  their  total  lack  of  facts  which  are 
sufficient  to  sustain  the  conclusions  therein  stated.  Conceding  for 
the  purpose  of  this  discussion  the  truth  of  Mrs.  Livermore's  asser- 
tions contained  in  the  first  paragraph  of  her  letter,  she  fails  abso- 
lutely to  show  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  have  been  of  any  benefit,  or 
have  rendered  any  aid,  to  woman  in  her  efforts  to  obtain  her  rights  in 
either  the  social,  the  business,  or  the  political  world;  and  unless  she 
is  able  to  present  stronger  or  more  cogent  reasons  to  justify  that 
conclusion  than  any  which  are  therein  specified,  I  shall  be  compelled 
to  adhere  to  my  present  conviction,  which  is,  that  this  book  always 
has  been,  and  is  at  present,  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  the  emancipation  and  the  advancement  of  the  sex. 

In  regard  to  the  letter  of  the  distinguished  President  of  the  Wo- 


202  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

man's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  her  position  is  entirely  inde- 
fensible and  completely  lacking  in  logical  conclusions.  Her  leading 
proposition  is  in  substance  that  to  the  extent  that  the  Christian  re- 
ligion has  prevailed  there  has  been  a  corresponding  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  women;  and  the  conclusion  which  she  draws  from 
that  premise  is  that  this  religion  has  been  the  cause  of  this  advance- 
ment. Before  I  admit  the  truth  of  this  conclusion  I  must  first  in- 
quire whether  or  not  the  premise  upon  which  it  is  based  is  true;  and 
judging  from  the  fact  that  the  condition  of  women  is  most  degraded 
in  those  countries  where  Church  and  State  are  in  closest  affiliation, 
as  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Russia  and  in  Ireland,  and  most  advanced  in 
nations  where  the  power  of  ecclesiasticism  is  markedly  on  the  wane, 
the  inference  is  obvious  that  the  Bible  and  the  religion  based  upon  it 
have  retarded  rather  than  promoted  the  progress  of  woman. 

But,  granting  that  her  premise  is  true,  her  conclusion  by  no 
means  follows  from  it.  She  desires  her  reader  to  infer  that  the  ex- 
istence of  Christianity  in  certain  countries  is  responsible  for  the  high 
degree  of  civilization  which  there  obtains,  and  that  the  improved 
condition  of  women  in  those  countries  is  owing  entirely  to  the  in- 
fluence of  that  religion  therein.  This  is  what  the  logicians  would 
call  a  non  sequitur,  which  means  a  conclusion  which  does  not  follow 
from  the  premises  stated. 

It  is  now  a  well-settled  principle  recognized  by  all  writers  upon 
the  science  of  logic,  that  the  co-existence  of  two  facts  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  that  one  is  the  cause  of  the  other;  and,  as  is  often  the 
case,  they  may  have  no  relation  to  each  other,  and  each  may  exist 
independently  of  the  other.  Many  illustrations  of  this  fallacy  might 
be  presented  were  it  necessary  to  do  so;  but  I  will  refer  to  only  one 
of  them.  I  have  heard  it  asserted  that  more  murders  and  other 
crimes  are  committed  in  Christian  countries  than  in  any  others. 
Whether  this  be  true  or  false,  I  am  not  prepared  to  state;  but  if  it 
were  proven  to  be  a  fact,  could  one  justly  contend  that  the  influence 
of  the  Bible  is  in  favor  of  the  commission  of  crime?  Indeed,  there 
would  be  more  reason  for  so  thinking  than  there  is  for  the  opinion 
which  she  holds,  as  numerous  passages  may  be  found  in  that  volume 
which  clearly  justify  both  crime  and  vice. 


APPENDIX.  203 


The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  as  Mrs.  Stanton,  Mrs.  Henry,  and 
other  contributors  to  'The  Woman's  Bible"  have  clearly  proven, 
that  whatever  progress  woman  has  made  in  any  department  of  ef- 
fort she  has  accomplished  independently  of,  and  in  opposition  to, 
the  so-called  inspired  and  infallible  "Word  of  God,"  and  that  this 
book  has  been  of  more  injury  to  her  than  has  any  other  which  has 
ever  been  written  in  the  history  of  the  world.  E.  M. 


"Have  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  advanced  or  retarded  the  eman- 
cipation of  women?" 

"Have  they  dignified  or  degraded  the  Mothers  of  the  Race?" 

There  are  always  two  sides  to  every  question.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  the  Christian,  the  historian,  the  clergyman,  and  the 
devotee,  in  their  enthusiasm,  are  long  on  assertion  and  short  on 
proof.  Turning  the  light  on  the  past  and  present,  the  writer  of 
this  comment  asserts  "as  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  nations  which 
treat  women  with  the  most  consideration  are  all"  civilized  nations. 
If  the  condition  of  woman  is  highest  in  Christian  civilization,  the 
question  arises.  Is  it  Christianity  or  civilization  which  has  accorded 
to  women  the  "most  consideration"?  Christianity  means  belief  in 
the  tenets  laid  down  in  a  book  called  the  Bible,  claimed  to  be  the 
Word  of  God.  Civilization  means  the  state  of  being  refined  in  man- 
ners from  the  grossness  of  savage  life,  and  improved  in  arts  and  in 
learning.  If  civilization  is  due  entirely  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible, 
then,  as  claimed,  woman  owes  to  Christianity  all  the  "consideration" 
which  she  receives. 

We  claim  that  woman's  advancement  is  due  to  civilization,  and 
that  the  Bible  has  been  a  bar  to  her  progress.  It  is  true  that  "woman 
receives  most  consideration  in  Christian  nations ;"  but  this  is  due  to 
the  mental  evolution  of  humanity,  stimulated  by  climate  and  by  soil, 
and  the  intercommunication  of  ideas  through  modern  invention.  All 
the  Christian  nations  are  in  the  north  temperate  zone,  whose  climate 
and  soil  are  better  adapted  to  the  development  of  the  race  than  any 
other  portions  of  the  earth.     Christianity  took  its  rise  in  thirty  de- 


204  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

grees  north  latitude.  Mohammedanism  took  its  rise  in  the  torrid 
zone;  and  as  it  made  its  way  north  it  advanced  in  education,  in  art,  in 
science,  and  in  invention,  until  the  civilization  of  Moslem  Spain  far 
surpassed  that  of  Christian  Europe,  and  as  it  retreated  before  the 
Christian  sword  from  the  fertile  valleys  of  Spain  into  the  arid  plains  of 
Arabia  it  retrograded,  after  giving  to  the  world  some  of  the  greatest 
scientific  truths  and  inventions. 

The  women  of  the  United  States  receive  "more  consideration" 
and  are  being  emancipated  more  rapidly  than  are  the  women  of  Eu- 
rope; yet,  in  Europe,  Christianity  holds  iron  sway,  while  in  America 
the  people  are  free  to  accept  or  to  reject  its  teachings;  and  in  the 
United  States,  out  of  a  population  of  seventy  millions,  but  twenty- 
two  millions  have  accepted  it;  and  a  large  percentage  of  these  are 
children,  who  have  not  arrived  at  the  years  of  discretion,  and  for- 
eigners from  Christian  Europe.  The  consideration  extended  to  wo- 
man does  not  depend  upon  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  but  upon  the 
mental  and  material  advancement  of  the  men  of  a  nation.  Now  if  it 
can  be  proven  that  Bible  teaching  has  inspired  men  to  explore  and  to 
subdue  new  lands,  to  give  to  the  world  inventions,  to  build  ships, 
railroads  and  telegraphs,  to  open  mines,  to  construct  foundries  and 
factories,  and  to  amass  knowledge  and  wealth,  then  the  Bible  has 
been  woman's  best  friend;  for  she  receives  most  consideration  where 
men  have  liberty  of  thought  and  of  action,  have  prospered  materially, 
builded  homes,  and  have  bank  accounts. 

The  women  in  the  slums  of  Christian  London  and  New  York 
receive  no  more  consideration  than  the  women  in  the  slums  of  Hong 
Kong  or  Bombay.  If  the  nations  which  give  the  most  considera- 
tion to  women  do  so  because  of  their  Christianity,  then  it  logically 
follows  that  the  more  intensely  Christian  a  class  or  an  individual 
may  be,  the  greater  consideration  will  be  shown  to  their  women. 
The  most  intensely  Christian  people  in  Christendom  are  negroes; 
yet  it  is  an  incontrovertible  fact  that  negro  women  receive  less  con- 
sideration, and  are  more  wronged  and  abused,  than  any  class  on  the 
earth.  The  women  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  in  Bible  lands  re- 
ceive consideration  just  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  intelligence 
and  worldly  goods  possessed  by  their  male  relatives,  while  the  pauper 


APPENDIX.  205 


classes  are  abused,  subjected,  and  degraded  in  proportion  to  the 
ignorance  and  the  poverty  of  the  men  of  their  class.  ^ 

The  Church  is  the  channel  through  which  Bible  influence  flows. 
Has  the  Church  ever  issued  an  edict  that  woman  must  be  equal  with 
man  before  the  canon  or  the  civil  law,  that  her  thoughts  should  be 
incorporated  in  creed  or  code,  that  she  should  own  her  own  body 
and  property  in  marriage,  or  have  a  legal  claim  to  her  children  born 
in  wedlock,  which  Christianity  claims  is  a  "sacrament"  and  one  of  the 
"holy  mysteries"?  Has  the  Church  ever  demanded  that  woman  be 
educated  beyond  the  Bible  (and  that  interpreted  for  her)  and  the  cook 
book,  or  given  a  chance  in  all  the  callings  of  life  to  earn  an  honest  liv- 
ing? Is  not  the  Church  to-day  a  masculine  hierarchy,  with  a  female 
constituency,  which  holds  woman  in  Bible  lands  in  silence  and  in 
subjection? 

No  institution  in  modern  civilization  is  so  tyrannical  and  so 
unjust  to  woman  as  is  the  Christian  Church.  It  demands  everything 
from  her  and  gives  her  nothing  in  return.  The  history  of  the  Church 
does  not  contain  a  single  suggestion  for  the  equality  of  woman  with 
man.  Yet  it  is  claimed  that  women  owe  their  advancement  to  the 
Bible.  It  would  be  quite  as  true  to  say  that  they  owe  their  im- 
proved condition  to  the  almanac  or  to  the  vernal  equinox.  Under 
Bible  influence  woman  has  been  burned  as  a  witch,  sold  in  the  sham- 
bles, reduced  to  a  drudge  and  a  pauper,  and  silenced  and  subjected 
before  her  ecclesiastical  and  marital  law-givers.  "She  was  first  in 
the  transgression,  therefore  keep  her  in  subjection."  These  words 
of  Paul  have  filled  our  whole  civilization  with  a  deadly  virus,  yet  how 
strange  is  it  that  the  average  Christian  woman  holds  the  name  of 
Paul  above  all  others,  and  is  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  he  has  brought 
deeper  shame,  subjection,  servitude  and  sorrow  to  woman  than  has 
any  other  human  being  in  history. 

The  nations  under  Bible  influence  are  the  only  drunken  nations 
on  the  earth.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  will  certainly  not  claim  that  drunken- 
ness elevates  woman;  indeed,  its  great  work  for  our  sex  is  a  splendid 
protest  against  this  idea.  Throughout  Christendom  millions  of 
wretched  women  wait  in  suspense  and  in  terror  for  the  return  of 
drunken  husbands,  while  in  heathendom  a  drunkard's  wife  cannot  be 


2o6  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

found  unless  a  heathen  husband  is  being  Christianized  by  Christian 
whiskey.  The  Chinese  women  have  their  feet  compressed,  but,  unhke 
Christian  women,  they  do  not  need  their  feet  to  give  broom  drills  or 
skirt  dances  for  the  "benefit  of  their  church."  The  child-wives  of 
India  need  to  be  rescued  and  protected,  but  no  more  than  many 
adult  wives  in  Bible  lands  need  protection  from  drunken  and  brutal 
husbands.  The  heathen  wife  seeks  death  on  her  husband's  funeral 
pyre,  but  the  Christian  wife  is  often  sent  to  death  by  a  bullet  in  her 
brain,  or  a  knife  in  her  heart. 

It  is  said  that  "woman's  ballot  is  unknown  except  where  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  has  mellowed  the  hearts  of  men  until  they  became  will- 
ing to  do  women  justice."  Justice  through  the  ballot  has  been  ac- 
corded only  to  the  women  of  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Utah,  and 
far  away  New  Zealand.  In  these  States  the  people  are  honest,  in- 
dustrious and  law-abiding;  but  the  "influence  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,"  according  to  religious  statistics,  is  so  small  it  would  take  a 
search-warrant  to  find  it,  while  Utah  is  full  of  Mormons  and  New 
Zealand  is  a  convict  dumping  ground  for  Christian  nations.  Is  this 
the  extent  of  justice  to  women  after  the  "influence  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  has  mellowed  the  hearts  of  men"  for  nineteen  hundred  years? 

The  fact  is  that  woman  has  been  elevated  in  spite  of  Bible  in- 
fluence. Every  efTort  that  woman  has  made  to  secure  education 
has  been  challenged  by  popes,  bishops,  priests,  moderators,  con- 
ferences and  college  presidents,  yet  against  all  these  protests  she 
has  battered  down  the  doors  of  Christian  colleges  and  is  now  study- 
ing the  Bible  of  Science  in  conjunction  with  the  Bible  of  the  Christian 
religion.  With  increasing  knowledge  woman  is  founding  her  faith 
on  reason  and  demonstrated  truth,  instead  of  taking  it  second-hand 
from  priest,  parson  or  presbyter. 

Remove  from  Bible  lands  the  busy  brains  and  hands  which  have 
guided  the  plow  and  the  locomotive,  driven  the  machinery  of  the 
mine,  the  foundry,  the  factory,  the  home,  the  mental  and  the  physical 
labor  v/hich  have  brought  material  prosperity,  broadened  the  mind, 
subdued  the  brutal  instincts,  and  humanized  the  race — remove  all 
these  and  leave  but  the  Bible  and  its  influence,  and  where,  let  me 
ask,  would  woman  be  to-day?     Where,  indeed,  would  man  be?     A 


APPENDIX.  207 


crouching  and  cowering  slave  to  the  Bible  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
right  of  kings,  living  as  the  brutes  of  the  field,  as  he  did  when  Bible 
Christianity  was  at  the  zenith  of  its  power.  Wherever  in  Christian 
lands  man  has  been  a  slave,  woman  has  been  the  slave  of  a  slave. 

Imagine  the  condition  of  woman  if  to-day  should  be  removed 
from  Christian  civilization  the  school,  the  steam  engine,  the  smoke- 
stack and  the  printing  press,  and  leave  but  the  Scriptures,  the  steeple 
and  the  parson.  Would  Elizabeth  Cady  Stantons,  Mary  A.  Liver- 
mores  and  Frances  E.  Willards  be  the  products  of  this  strictly 
Christian  civilization? 

Christianity  has  instilled  into  woman  the  canting  falsehood  that 
the  women  of  all  other  religions  are  degraded  and  immoral.  Through 
tyranny  and  falsehood  alone  is  Christianity  able  to  hold  woman  in 
subjection.  To  tell  her  the  truth  would  rend  the  temple  of  faith  in 
twain  and  strike  terror  to  the  heart  of  the  priest  at  the  altar.  Noth- 
ing but  the  truth  will  set  woman  free.  She  should  know  that 
Christian  England  captures  the  Hindoo  girl  to  act  as  a  harlot 
to  the  British  soldier,  and  that  a  Christian  chaplain  is  commanded 
to  see  that  she  performs  her  duty.  She  should  know  that  in  Christ- 
ian Austria  the  maiden  must  partake  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  before 
she  will  be  granted  a  license  as  a  prostitute.  She  should  know  that 
Christian  Europe  and  America  trade  upon  the  bodies,  the  hearts  and 
the  hopes  of  millions  of  wretched  women,  victims  of  ignorance  and 
of  poverty,  and  that  the  centres  of  Christian  civilization  are  seething 
cauldrons  of  immoraHty,  dissipation  and  disease,  which  spread  ruin 
and  despair  in  the  shadow  of  the  loftiest  cathedrals  and  palatial 
Christian  temples. 

These  things  are  too  shocking  for  pure  Christian  women  to 
know,  so  they  expend  their  prayers  and  pelf  on  the  "poor  heathen" 
who  have  never  heard  that  Adam  ate  an  apple,  or  that  the  whale 
swallowed  Jonah.  Christianity  feeds  and  fattens  on  the  sentiment 
and  the  credulity  of  women.  It  slanders  the  women  of  India,  of 
China  and  of  Japan  that  it  may  rob  the  woman  of  Europe  and  of 
America.  Dr.  Simmons,  of  the  National  Hospital  at  Yokohama, 
who  has  lived  in  the  Orient  for  thirty-five  years,  says : 

"The  family  in  Japan  is  the  cornerstone  of  the  nation.     The 


268  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBIE. 

father  and  the  mother  are  regarded  with  reverence.  Politeness  and 
self-restraint  are  instilled  into  children,  and  an  uncivil  word  is 
rarely  heard.  The  Japanese  are  truthful  and  honest.  The  wife  has 
equal  influence  with  the  husband ;  while  divorce  is  rarely  heard  of  in 
Oriental  lands ;  and  laws  are  more  stringent  protecting  the  chastity 
of  women." 

O  that  women  could  learn  the  truth !  The  laws  of  the  Orient  are 
against  trafficking  in  young  girls,  but  Christian  England,  which  has 
an  iron  hand  on  the  throat  of  India  and  a  sword  thrust  into  her 
heart,  carries  on  a  lively  trade  in  native  and  foreign  women,  to  be 
the  prey  of  the  Christian  soldier,  who  makes  way  for  the  Christian 
missionary.  Here,  in  Christian  America,  marriageable  young  wo- 
men are  trotted  oflf  to  church,  the  theatre  or  the  ball,  and  practically 
set  up  for  sale  in  the  market  of  holy  matrimony;  and  the  Christian 
minister,  for  a  consideration,  seals  the  "Divine  mystery."  The 
Church  would  indignantly  deny  that  it  is  a  marriage  mart,  but  denial 
does  not  throttle  the  truth. 

Truth  makes  her  way  slowly  but  surely,  because  the  eternities  are 
hers.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  the  greatest  liberator  of  our 
time,  has,  with  magnificent  courage,  pressed  into  humanity's  Ther- 
mopylae, and  turned  the  light  on  the  superstitions  which  have  visited 
cruelties  and  wrongs  on  woman,  and  this,  too,  under  a  system  which 
claims  to  extend  "great  consideration"  to  the  Mothers  of  the  Race. 
O  women  of  Christendom!  will  ye  not  seek  the  truth?  Leave  the 
priestly  mendicants  who  demand  your  devotion  and  your  dollars, 
leave  to  their  religion  the  heathen  women  on  the  banks  of  the  Yang- 
tse-Kiang  and  the  Ganges,  and  turn  your  eyes  to  millions  of  your 
enslaved,  toiling,  struggling  sisters  in  Christendom  whom  it  is 
claimed  the  Bible  has  elevated;  and  remember  that  these  are  the  vic- 
tims upon  whom  the  "glad  feet"  of  the  Gospel  have  been  trampling 
for  two  thousand  years. 

Versailles,  Ky.  Josephine  K.  Henry. 


The  Christian  theory  of  the  sacredness  of  the  Bible  has  been  at 


APPENDIX.  209 


the  cost  of  the  world's  civilization.  Whether  we  regard  the  work 
as  custodian  of  the  profoundest  secrets  of  the  "ancient  mysteries,"  a 
spiritual  book  trebly  veiled,  or  as  the  physical  and  religious  history 
of  the  world  in  its  most  material  forms,  its  interpretation  by  the 
Church,  by  the  State,  and  by  society  has  ever  been  prejudicial  to 
the  best  interests  of  humanity.  Science,  art,  inventions,  reforms  of 
existing  wrongs,  all,  all  have  been  opposed  upon  its  authority. 
That  even  the  most  enlightened  nations  are  not  yet  out  of  barbar- 
ism is  due  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

F"rom  "Thou  shalt  not  make  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness 
of  anything  in  heaven  above,  the  earth  beneath,  or  the  waters  un- 
der the  earth,"  down  to  "A  woman  shall  not  speak  in  church,  but 
shall  ask  her  husband  at  home,"  the  tendency  of  the  Bible  has  been 
to  crush  out  aspiration,  to  deaden  human  faculties,  and  to  humiliate 
mankind.  From  Adam's  plaint,  "The  woman  gave  me  and  I  did  eat," 
down  to  Christ's  "Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee?"  the  tendency 
of  the  Bible  has  been  degradation  of  the  divinest  half  of  humanity — 
woman.  Even  the  Christian  Church  itself  is  not  based  upon  Christ 
as  a  savior,  but  upon  its  own  teachings  that  woman  brought  sin  into 
the  world,  a  theory  in  direct  contradiction,  not  alone  to  the  mys- 
teries, but  to  spiritual  truth.  But  our  present  quest  is  not  what  the 
mystic  or  the  spiritual  character  of  the  Bible  may  be;  we  are  in- 
vestigating its  influence  upon  woman  under  Judaism  and  Christian- 
ity, and  pronounce  it  evil. 

Matilda  Joslyn  Gage. 


There  is  nothing  tending  to  show  that  the  women  spoken  of  in 
the  Bible  were  superior  to  the  ones  we  know.  There  are  to-day 
millions  of  women  making  coats  for  their  sons;  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  women,  true,  not  simply  to  innocent  people  falsely  accused, 
but  to  criminals.  Many  a  loving  heart  is  as  true  to  the  gallows  as 
Mary  was  to  the  cross.  There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women 
accepting  poverty  and  want  and  dishonor  for  the  love  they  bear  un- 


THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


worthy  men;  hundreds  and  thousands — hundreds  and  thousands — 
working  day  and  night,  with  strained  eyes  and  tired  hands,  for  hus- 
bands and  children — clothed  in  rags,  housed  in  huts  and  hovels, 
hoping  day  after  day  for  the  Angel  of  Death,  There  are  thousands 
of  women  in  Christian  England  working  in  iron,  laboring  in  the 
fields  and  toiling  in  the  mines.  There  are  hundreds  and  thousands 
in  Europe,  everywhere,  doing  the  work  of  men — deformed  by  toil, 
and  who  would  become  simply  wild  and  ferocious  beasts,  except 
for  the  love  they  bear  for  home  and  child. 

We  need  not  go  back  four  thousand  years  for  heroines.  The 
world  is  filled  with  them  to-day.  They  do  not  belong  to  any  nation, 
nor  any  religion,  nor  exclusively  to  any  race.  Wherever  woman  is 
found,  they  are  found.  There  are  no  women  portrayed  in  the  Bible 
who  equal  thousands  and  thousands  of  known  to-day.  The  wo- 
men of  the  Bible  fall  almost  infinitely  below,  not  simply  those  in 
real  life,  but  the  creations  of  the  imagination  found  in  the  world  of 
fiction.  They  will  not  compare  with  the  women  born  of  Shake- 
speare's brain.  You  will  find  none  like  Isabella,  in  whose  spotless 
life,  love  and  reason  blended  into  perfect  truth;  nor  Juliet,  within 
whose  heart,  passion  and  purity  met  like  white  and  red  within  the 
bosom  of  a  rose;  nor  Cordelia,  who  chose  to  suffer  loss  rather  than 
show  her  wealth  of  love  with  those  who  gilded  dross  with  golden 
words  in  hope  of  gain;  nor  Miranda,  who  told  her  love  as  freely  as 
a  flower  gives  its  blossom  to  the  kisses  of  the  sun;  nor  Imogene,  who 
asked,  "What  is  it  to  be  false?"  nor  Hermione,  who  bore  with  per- 
fect faith  and  hope  the  cross  of  shame,  and  who  at  last  forgave  with 
all  her  heart ;  nor  Desdemona,  her  innocence  so  perfect  and  her  love 
so  pure  that  she  was  incapable  of  suspecting  that  another  could  sus- 
pect, and  sought  with  dying  words  to  hide  her  lover's  crime. 

If  we  wish  to  find  what  the  Bible  thinks  of  woman,  all  that  is 
necessary  to  do  is  to  read  it.  We  shall  find  that  everywhere  she  is 
spoken  of  simply  as  property — as  belonging  absolutely  to  the  man. 
We  shall  find  that,  whenever  a  man  got  tired  of  his  wife,  all  he  had 
to  do  was  to  give  her  a  writing  of  divorcement,  and  that  then  the 
mother  of  his  children  became  a  houseless  and  homeless  wanderer. 
We  shall  find  that  men  were  allowed  to  have  as  many  wives  as  they 


APPENDIX.  211 


could  get,  either  by  courtship,  purchase,  or  conquest.  The  Jew- 
ish people  in  the  olden  time  were,  in  many  respects,  like  their  bar- 
barian neighbors.  Anon. 


The  Bible,  viewed  by  men  as  the  infallible  "Word  of  God,"  and 
translated  and  explained  for  ages  by  men  only,  tends  to  the  subjec- 
tion and  degradation  of  woman.  Historical  facts  to  prove  this  are 
abundant.  In  the  dark  days  of  "witchcraft" — through  centuries — 
alleged  witches  were  arrested,  tried  in  ecclesiastical  courts,  tortured 
and  hung  or  burned  at  the  stake  by  men  under  priestly  direction, 
and  the  great  majority  of  the  victims  were  women.  Eve's  alleged 
transgression,  and  the  Bible  edict  in  the  days  of  the  reputed  Witch 
of  Endor,  "Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live,"  being  the  warrant 
and  Divine  authority  for  this  awful  slaughter  of  women. 

In  the  days  of  chattel-slavery  in  our  country,  the  slave-laws, 
framed  by  men  only,  degraded  woman  by  making  her  the  defenseless 
victim  of  her  slave-master's  passions,  and  then  inflicting  a  cruel 
stab,  reaching  the  heart  of  motherhood,  by  laws  which  made  her 
children  follow  the  condition  of  the  mother,  as  slaves;  never  that  of 
the  father,  as  free  women  or  men.  The  clergy  became  slaveholders 
and  defenders  of  slavery  without  loss  of  priestly  position  or  influence, 
and  quoted  "Cursed  be  Canaan"  as  their  justification. 

The  Lord  gave  the  Word,  great  was  the  company  of  those  that 
published  it. — Old  version  of  the  Bible,  68th  Psalm. 

The  Lord  giveth  the  Word,  and  great  is  the  multitude  oi  women 
who  publish  it. — Revised  version  of  the  Bible,  68th  Psalm. 

Here  is  "a  reform"  not  "against  Nature,"  nor  the  facts  of  history, 
but  is  true  to  the  Mother  of  the  Race,  to  her  knowledge  of  "the 
Word,"  to  her  desire  to  promulgate  it,  to  her  actual  participation  in 
declaring  and  proclaiming  it.  And  true  to  a  present  and  continu- 
ous inspiration  and  influx  of  the  Spirit,  it  is  giveth,  and  not  "gave," 
in  the  past.  And  this  one  recognition  of  woman  as  preacher  and 
Apostle  forbids  the  assertion  that  woman  is  degraded  from  Genesis  to 
Revelation. 


212  THE   WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 


The  light  of  a  more  generous  reHgious  thought,  a  growth  out  of 
the  old  beliefs,  impelled  the  learned  "Committee  on  Revision"  to 
speak  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  religious  character  and  work  of 
women,  and  they  have  exalted  her  where  before  she  was  "degraded." 

This  revision  is  also  prophetic  of  this  era,  for  never  were  women 
doing  so  excellently  the  world's  work,  or,  like  Tryphena  and  Try- 
phosa,  prophesying  the  light  still  to  come. 

Catharine  A.  F.  Stebbins. 


The  general  principles  of  righteousness  and  justice  laid  down  in 
the  Bible  have  elevated  the  race  in  general,  the  mothers  included, 
and  have  aided  in  securing  reforms  for  women,  as  well  as  for  other 
classes.  But  the  specific  texts  of  Saint  Paul  enjoining  subjection 
upon  women  have  undoubtedly  been  a  hindrance. 

Alice  Stone  Blackwell. 


1.  In  my  opinion  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  have  advanced  wo- 
man's emancipation. 

Look  at  the  freedom  of  the  Jewish  women  of  the  Old  Testament 
— of  Miriam,  Deborah,  Abigail,  Ruth  and  Esther.  In  comparison, 
where  were  the  Gentile  women  who  knew  not  God? 

2.  The  teachings  of  the  Bible,  particularly  the  New  Testament, 
have  dignified  the  Mothers  of  the  Race,  Christ  was  very  severe  to 
the  men  who  were  sinners,  he  called  them  Scribes  and  Pharisees  and 
hypocrites,  and  pronounced,  "Woe  be  unto  you."  He  even  whipped 
the  money  changers  out  of  the  temple.  But  no  rebuke  to  woman 
ever  fell  from  his  lips  save  the  gentle  one  to  Martha,  that  she  cared 
too  much  for  her  home  and  her  nice  housekeeping.  Christ's  mis- 
sion meant  the  elevation  of  womanhood.  Compare  Christian  coun- 
tries with  the  heathen  countries,  and  see  how  Christianity  elevates 
and  heathenism  degrades  womanhood. 

I  have  studied  the  questions  in  the  Indian  Territory  in  our  own 


APPENDIX.  213 


United  States.  Under  the  influence  of  the  Christian  missionaries 
the  Indian  woman  is  an  important  factor  in  Church  and  State.  Where 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  not  preached  the  women  are  slaves  to  the  men. 
In  their  long  tramps  they  do  not  even  walk  beside  their  husbands, 
but  follow  behind  like  dogs.  I  am  aware  that  small  ministers  still 
preach  foolishness,  defining  "woman's  sphere,"  but  the  real  Biblical 
Christianity  elevates  womanhood. 

Sarah  M.  Perkins. 


My  Dear  Mrs.  Stanton  : — I  regard  the  Bible  as  I  do  the  other 
so-called  sacred  books  of  the  world.  They  were  all  produced  in 
savage  times,  and,  of  course,  contain  many  things  that  shock  our 
sense  of  justice.  In  the  days  of  darkness  women  were  regarded  and 
treated  as  slaves.  They  were  allowed  no  voice  in  public  affairs. 
Neither  man  nor  woman  were  civilized,  and  the  gods  were  like  their 
worshipers.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  know  that  women  are  begin- 
ning to  think  and  are  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  religion  of  bar- 
barians. 

I  congratulate  you  on  what  you  have  already  accomplished  and 
for  the  work  you  are  now  doing.     Sincerely  yours, 

Eva  a.  Ingersoll. 


In  reading  some  of  these  letters  and  comments  I  have  been  deep- 
ly impressed  with  the  difficulty  of  substituting  reason  for  supersti- 
tion in  minds  once  perverted  by  a  false  faith.  Women  have  been 
taught  by  their  religious  guardians  that  the  Bible,  unlike  all  other 
books,  was  written  under  the  special  inspiration  of  the  Great  Ruling 
Intelligence  of  the  Universe.  Not  conversant  with  works  on  science 
and  higher  criticism,  which  point  out  its  fabulous  pretensions,  they 
cling  to  it  with  an  unreasoning  tenacity,  like  a  savage  to  his  fetich. 
Though  it  is  full  of  contradictions,  absurdities  and  impossibilities, 
and  bears  the  strongest  evidence  in  every  line  of  its  human  origin. 


214  THE    WOMAN'S   BIBLE. 

and  in  moral  sentiment  is  below  many  of  the  best  books  of  our  own 
day,  they  blindly  worship  it  as  the  Word  of  God. 

When  you  point  out  what  in  plain  English  it  tells  us  God  did  say 
to  his  people  in  regard  to  woman,  and  there  is  no  escape  from  its  de- 
grading teaching  as  to  her  position,  then  they  shelter  themselves 
under  false  translations,  interpretations  and  symbolic  meanings. 
It  does  not  occur  to  them  that  men  learned  in  the  languages  have 
revised  the  book  many  times,  but  made  no  change  in  woman's  po- 
sition. Though  familiar  with  "the  designs  of  God,"  trained  in 
Biblical  research  and  higher  criticism,  interpreters  of  signs  and  sym- 
bols and  Eg}'ptian  hieroglyphics,  learned  astronomers  and  astrolo- 
gers, yet  they  cannot  twist  out  of  the  Old  or  New  Testaments  a 
message  of  justice,  liberty  or  equality  from  God  to  the  women  of 
the  nineteenth  century! 

The  real  difficulty  in  woman's  case  is  that  the  whole  foundation 
of  the  Christian  religion  rests  on  her  temptation  and  man's  fall, 
hence  the  necessity  of  a  Redeemer  and  a  plan  of  salvation.  As  the 
chief  cause  of  this  dire  calamity,  woman's  degradation  and  subordina- 
tion were  made  a  necessity.  If,  however,  we  accept  the  Darwinian 
theory,  that  the  race  has  been  a  gradual  growth  from  the  lower  to  a 
higher  form  of  life,  and  that  the  story  of  the  fall  is  a  myth,  we  can 
exonerate  the  snake,  emancipate  the  woman,  and  reconstruct  a  more 
rational  religion  for  the  nineteenth  century,  and  thus  escape  all  the 
perplexities  of  the  Jewish  mythology  as  of  no  more  importance  than 
those  of  the  Greek,  Persian  and  Egyptian. 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton. 


"THE  WOMAN'S  BIBLE"  REPUDIATED. 


At  the  twenty-eighth  annual  convention  of  the  National-Ameri- 
can Woman  Suffrage  Association,  held  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in 
January,  1896,  the  following,  was  reported  by  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions: 

"That  this  Association  is  non-sectarian,  being  composed  of  per- 
sons of  all  shades  of  religious  opinion,  and  that  it  has  no  official  con- 
nection with  the  so-called  'Woman's  Bible/  or  any  theological  pub- 
lication." 

Charlotte  Perkins  Stetson  moved  to  amend  by  striking  out 
everything  after  the  word  "opinion." 

Anna  R.  Simmons  moved,  as  an  amendment  to  the  amendment, 
to  omit  the  words  "the  so-called  Woman's  Bible,  or." 

This  was  followed  by  a  long  and  animated  discussion,  in  which 
the  following  persons  participated: 

Frances  A.  Williamson,  Helen  Morris  Lewis,  Annie  L.  Diggs, 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  Rachel  Foster  Avery,  Henry  B.  Blackwell, 
Laura  M.  Johns,  Elizabeth  U.  Yates,  Katie  R.  Addison,  Alice 
Stone  Blackwell  and  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  speaking  for  the 
resolution;  and  Charlotte  Perkins  Stetson,  Mary  Bentley  Thomas, 
J.  B.  Merwin,  Clara  B.  Colby,  Harriette  A.  Keyser,  Lavina  A. 
Hatch,  Lillie  Devereux  Blake,  Caroline  Hallowell  Miller,  Victoria 
Conkling  Whitney,  Althea  B.  Stryker,  and  Cornelia  H.  Cary  speak- 
ing against  it. 

The  President,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  left  the  chair  and  spoke  with 
much  earnestness  against  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  as  follows: 

"The  one  distinct  feature  of  our  Association  has  been  the  right 
of  individual  opinion  for  every  member.     We  have  been  beset  at 

215 


2i6  THE   WOMAN'S  BIBLE. 

every  step  with  the  cry  that  somebody  was  injuring  the  cause  by 
the  expression  of  some  sentiments  that  differed  with  those  held  by 
the  majority  of  mankind.  The  religious  persecution  of  the  ages 
has  been  done  under  what  was  claimed  to  be  the  command  of  God. 
I  distrust  those  people  who  know  so  well  what  God  wants  them  to 
do  to  their  fellows,  because  it  always  coincides  with  their  own  de- 
sires. All  the  way  along  the  history  of  our  movement  there  has 
been  this  same  contest  on  account  of  religious  theories.  Forty 
years  ago  one  of  our  noblest  men  said  to  me:  'You  would  better 
never  hold  another  convention  than  let  Ernestine  L.  Rose  stand  on 
your  platform,'  because  that  talented  and  eloquent  Polish  woman, 
who  ever  stood  for  justice  and  freedom,  did  not  believe  in  the  plen- 
ary inspiration  of  the  Bible.  Did  we  banish  Mrs.  Rose?  No,  in- 
deed! Every  new  generation  of  converts  threshes  over  the  same 
old  straw.  Twenty-five  years  ago  a  prominent  woman,  who  stood 
on  our  platform  for  the  first  time,  wanted  us  to  pass  a  resolution 
that  we  were  not  free  lovers;  and  I  was  not  more  shocked  than  I 
am  to-day  at  this  attempt.  The  question  is  whether  you  will  sit  in 
judgment  on  one  who  has  questioned  the  Divine  inspiration  of  cer- 
tain passages  in  the  Bible  derogatory  to  women.  If  she  had  writ- 
ten approvingly  of  these  passages,  you  would  not  have  brought  in 
this  resolution  because  you  thought  the  cause  might  be  injured 
among  the  liberals  in  religion.  In  other  words,  if  she  had  written 
your  views,  you  would  not  have  considered  a  resolution  necessary. 
To  pass  this  one  is  to  set  back  the  hands  on  the  dial  of  reform.  It 
is  the  reviving  of  the  old  time  censorship,  which  I  hoped  we  had 
outgrown. 

"What  you  should  do  is  to  say  to  outsiders  that  a  Christian  has 
neither  more  nor  less  rights  in  our  Association  than  an  atheist. 
When  our  platform  becomes  too  narrow  for  people  of  all  creeds 
and  of  no  creeds,  I  myself  shall  not  stand  upon  it.  Many  things 
have  been  said  and  done  by  our  orthodox  friends  that  I  have  felt 
to  be  extremely  harmful  to  our  cause;  but  I  should  no  more  con- 
sent to  a  resolution  denouncing  them  than  I  shall  consent  to  this. 
Who  is  to  draw  the  line?  Who  can  tell  now  whether  Mrs.  Stanton's 
commentaries  may  not  prove  a  great  help  to  woman's  emancipation 


APPENDIX.  217 


from  old  superstitions  that  have  barred  her  way?  Lucretia  Mott 
at  first  thought  Mrs.  Stanton  had  injured  the  cause  of  all  woman's 
other  rights  by  insisting  upon  the  demand  for  suffrage,  but  she  had 
sense  enough  not  to  bring  in  a  resolution  against  it.  In  i860, 
when  Mrs.  Stanton  made  a  speech  before  the  New  York  Legisla- 
ture in  favor  of  a  bill  making  drunkenness  a  cause  for  divorce, 
there  was  a  general  cry  among  the  friends  that  she  had  killed  the 
woman's  cause.  I  shall  be  pained  beyond  expression  if  the  dele- 
gates here  are  so  narrow  and  illiberal  as  to  adopt  this  resolution. 
You  would  better  not  begin  resolving  against  individual  action  or 
you  will  find  no  limit.  This  year  it  is  Mrs.  Stanton;  next  year  it 
may  be  me  or  one  of  yourselves  who  will  be  the  victim. 

"Are  you  going  to  cater  to  the  whims  and  prejudices  of  people 
who  have  no  intelligent  knowledge  of  what  they  condemn?  If  we 
do  not  inspire  in  woman  a  broad  and  catholic  spirit,  they  will  fail, 
when  enfranchised,  to  constitute  that  power  for  better  government 
which  we  have  always  claimed  for  them.  You  would  better  educate 
ten  women  into  the  practice  of  liberal  principles  than  to  organize 
ten  thousand  on  a  platform  of  intolerance  and  bigotry.  I  pray  you, 
vote  for  religious  liberty,  without  censorship  or  inquisition.  This 
resolution,  adopted,  will  be  a  vote  of  censure  upon  a  woman  who 
is  without  a  peer  in  intellectual  and  statesmanlike  ability;  one  who 
has  stood  for  half  a  century  the  acknowledged  leader  of  progressive 
thought  and  demand  in  regard  to  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  ab- 
solute freedom  of  women." 

The  Resolution  was  then  adopted  by  a  vote  of  53  to  41. 


"The  Truth  shall  make  you  free." — John  viii.,  32, 


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